NFL preseason is half over. With two weeks in the books, we’ve seen a number of significant injuries. Now which of these injuries are game changers and which ones are not a lot to worry about? Let’s take a quick look at some of the more significant injuries and what it means to their teams going forward. There are so many preseason injuries that this obviously can not be an exhaustive list, but these are injuries that I feel will have the greatest effect on their teams.
Michael Vick, QB, Eagles: Vick suffered injured ribs in a preseason game against the Patriots on Monday. They have done a battery of tests and reports are that Vick’s injuries do not appear to be serious. However, the injury illustrates some important points. Many are picking the Eagles to win the NFC East this year, but I just can’t trust them. First of all, the Eagles have a weak offensive line, especially at Left Tackle where Demetrius Bell has proven that he is not the answer with Jason Peters injured. Michael Vick has also never played a full season in his career. Given both of those factors, Vick’s penchant for getting hurt, and the Eagles inability to protect him, the Eagles should be concerned. Vick may have avoided disaster this time, but its a fair bet that he will probably miss regular season games at some point. The NFC East is so tight, that how many he misses could be the difference between a division win and 3rd place.
Ryan Mathews, RB, Chargers: Ryan Mathews suffered a broken clavicle in week 1 of the preseason and was forced to undergo surgery to have it repaired. The typical recovery time for this surgery is 4 to 6 weeks, which means that it is an injury that could effect Mathews into the start of the regular season. This is a huge blow to the Chargers as Mathews was their featured back in both passing and rushing situations. Backup Ronnie Brown is an old back with a lot of miles on him and can not be expected to carry the load for very long. Mathews has told reporters that he plans to play in the season opener, but we wouldn’t be so sure. Players often underestimate recovery times especially early in the recovery, and even if he does come back he may not be 100% right away. Don’t get me wrong, Mathews shouldn’t miss “that much” time, but we must see that the lack of a training camp and preseason means that even if he’s healthy enough to play in week 1, he won’t be 100%. Things should eventually get back to normal but don’t be surprised if the Chargers running game suffers early in the season.
James Harrison, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers: Arthroscopic Knee Surgery pretty much guarantees that Harrison will not be ready to go for the Steelers in week one and maybe a few more weeks early in the season. However the question is, how much will the Steelers miss their star linebacker? Lamar Woodley has emerged as a legitimate NFL star on the other side and certainly will help to make up for the loss of Harrison. The Steelers have spent the last 2 decades playing “plug and play” at the linebacker position, and an injury to Harrison might just mean that another linebacker is going to get his opportunity to play. I would bet on Woodley and Polamalu stepping up and picking up a good portion of the slack for the Steeler defence, while Chris Carter and Brandon Johnson man a rotation at Harrison’s spot until he’s ready. I don’t think the Steelers will miss a beat, and let’s remember they were 4-1 without Harrison in 2011 (including a win vs New England). Harrison is a good player and will help the Steeler D to become even more fearsome upon his return, but I think they’ll survive without him early, too. I’ve included this injury because its getting a lot of attention, but it is the one on the list that I think has the least effect on the team in question.
Terrell Thomas, CB, Giants: Last year Eli Manning and the Giants offence were consistently putting up points all season long, however they were a .500 team until they got hot late in the year, and went on to win the Superbowl. A real key to the Giants play down the stretch and into the playoffs was the improvement of their defence, and specifically the secondary. When the Giants lost starting corner Aaron Ross to the Jacksonville Jaguars it was hoped that Thomas would re-take his CB spot he played so well in during the 2009 and 2010 seasons and the secondary wouldn’t miss a beat. Thomas missed the 2011 season after tearing his ACL, and has now reinjured it. It is unclear how much time Thomas will miss, but it is a serious injury. He could be gone from anywhere from half a season, to the whole year again. The Giants hope 2nd year CB Prince Akumara can fill his spot, but even if he can this is still a big problem for them. With the way the NFL is today, teams need deep secondaries to compete. Its become such a pass happy league. Losing Ross to free agency and now his replacement in Thomas is a major blow.
Chris Chamberlain, LB, Saints: I know, I know, not the same name value as the other guys in this article. Still I think that Chamberlains’s loss is a big blow to the Saints. This is a defence that has already been weakened at linebacker by age, free agent defections, and of course suspensions related to the bounty scandal. Chamberlain was competing with Scott Shanle for the starting outside LB job for the Saints. It even appeared as if Chamberlain had the upper hand, when suddenly a gruesome ACL injury struck and he was lost for the year. I’m no fan of Scott Shanle, and I feel that if he’s a starting linebacker, the Saints defence just got weaker again. Chamberlain’s injury means yet another problem for a defence that is going to have a tough time this season, and he is also an important special teamer who will be missed in this capacity for the Saints. The Saints have traded for Barrett Ruud, but I think he’s a downgrade from Chamberlain, at this point in Ruud’s career.
Austin Collie, WR, Colts: Through two preseason games, it appeared that Collie was developing a nice rapport with new Colts QB, Andrew Luck, however once again Collie’s biggest enemy has reared its ugly head. Collie was forced to leave Sunday’s game with yet another concussion, his 3rd in just 22 months. While the Colts are saying that Collie will return this season, and maybe even in time for week one, I question if he can avoid the injury bug for the balance of the year. As we all know by now, each concussion a person suffers makes them more susceptible to future concussions, and makes future recovery times longer. Considering the damage already done to Collie, one must wonder how much football he has left in him. From a team perspective, the Colts are losing one of the targets who should make Luck’s transition into the NFL easier, at least for the rest of training camp, and probably early in the regular season. This doesn’t make life any easier for the highly touted rookie.
While there have been a number of injuries in preseason (and we can likely expect a few more), these six are some of the biggest and in my opinion will have a huge impact into the regular season. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so I ask you to leave your comments below if you think there is someone else whose injury will have a major effect on his team.
