What we saw on the first weekend of the NFL season was the impact of a shortened training camp: tired players (mostly on the defense) and plenty of injuries. Let’s take a closer look at the injuries that will make the biggest impact:
5. Dan Koppen – Center – New England – 6-10 weeks – Koppen broke his ankle midway through the Pats game against Miami but he will be eligible to come back late this season if the team does not decide to IR him. Dan Connolly came in and the team did not miss a beat – something you would expect from the Patriots. So why is this a big injury? The Pats are competing for first place in the AFC and this injury will impact them versus the best teams in the league. When the play the Jets, Steelers and Chargers this injury could show up. The Pats are unstoppable when they are protecting Brady but can look very average when they are not. Just look at last years playoff loss.
4. Eric Berry – Safety – Kansas City – Lost for season – I was not prediciting big things for KC already this year, but there one hope was going to come from having a dominating D featuring the strong coverage they showed last year as well as a decent pass rush. A team short on talent can not afford to lose one of their most talented players. KC looks like they will be lucky to win 5 games this year.
3. Steven Jackson – RB and Danny Amendola – WR – St. Louis – Jackson (week to week) Amendola (6+ weeks) If you watched the first quarter of the St Louis – Philly game last weekend you saw something mildly surprising – a Rams team that matched up favorably with the Eagles. They came out with a game plan to attack Vick on defense and to run the ball against the unproven Eagles from 7. The results were two nice runs early for Jackson and an early lead for the Rams. Once Jackson went out however the Rams found it hard to stick to the game plan. They did mix in some run but passed too much and could not protect Bradford. Another problem the Rams had was drops by their TE’s and WR’s. Amendola being Bradford’s most dependable WR does not help the situation.
2. Luis Castillo – DE – San Diego – Lost for Season – This injury is big for one reason: The Chargers are expected to comepete for the division title and even first place in the AFC. They showed their D-line has plenty of talent by dominating the Vikings O-line on Sunday, but they have now lost their most dependable D-lineman. We will see how this injury impacts the team immediately as the Chargers visit the Patriots on Sunday.
1. Jonathan Babineaux – DT – Atlanta – 4-6 Week minimum – Who? Babineaux is the Falcons most indespensible defensive players and defenitely would have been their MVP on defense last year. Babineaux tore his MCL, the good news is this is the one knee ligament you can tear and still come back in the same season, unless you are Rod Woodson. The bad news is that the Falcons need their star DT. They are already 0-1, they play in a division with the Saints and Bucs and any slipping at all could see them out of the playoffs, and finally, they play Philly this weekend. They need all the D-linemen they have to chase down Vick. The other concern is that even though Babineaux will be able to return he may not be 100% all season. For a D-lineman who’s game is based on quickness and penetration this is bad news.
