Every week bones break and muscles rip around the NFL. We’ll take a look at the most significant injuries, and what happens next.
Robert Griffin III’s body doesn’t seem to like football
Robert Griffin III getting injured always feels inevitable, and we expect it to happen the same way every snap goes down for a mobile quarterback. He’ll be running merrily in the open field, get tackled awkwardly, and boom goes the dynamite.
But his injury yesterday was sort of weird…
One misstep is all it took to give many Redskins fans what they so desperately want: the gift of Kirk Cousins. As Griffin struggled with a new offense throughout the preseason and Cousins shredded second teamers, we all had to endure a discussion about who the better quarterback really is, mostly because of Joe Theismann.
The initial diagnosis for Griffin is a dislocated ankle and a reported four-to-five week absence, with an MRI coming later today. That’s bad, though it could be worse. What it means right now is another extended look at Cousins. With a limited sample size there’s still some shoulder shrugging going on regarding Cousins, and his inconsistencies.
He looked terrific yesterday, completing passes to every area of the field against the Jaguars. He connected on 66.6 percent of his throws for 250 yards and two touchdowns, and he finished the afternoon with four completions for 20 yards or more. One of those was his second pass, a 20-yard touchdown to fullback Darrell Young. In just over four quarters this season Griffin had led the Redskins’ offense to six points. In his first three drives, Cousins led an offense that scored 14 points, and finished with 41.
Griffin is the more talented quarterback, but Cousins seems far more comfortable as a drop-back, pocket passer in Jay Gruden’s pro-style offense. This should not be a shocking development, as although it exposes him to more ripping, Griffin is at his most effective when he’s moving and able to be creative.
If Cousins keeps feeling cozy for a few more weeks, there will be more chatter about the future of the quarterback position in Washington, both short- and long-term. Some caution is needed, though, because let’s remember he tore apart a Jaguars defense that’s now allowed 75 points over two games. Also, please recall Cousins was merely serviceable during his three starts and five game appearances last year, averaging 5.5 yards per attempt while completing 52.3 percent of his passes.
He might be playing without his top receiver too. About that…
The Redskins, and their deep hurt
Shortly after Griffin went down, DeSean Jackson joined in on the not-at-all fun. The Redskins’ primary field stretcher left with a bruised shoulder, an injury he’s battled previously. It’s the same problem that made Browns tight end Jordan Cameron a last-minute scratch yesterday.
If Jackson misses time, then Cousins will be without both him and likely tight end Jordan Reed too. Niles Paul will be leaned on heavily (eight catches for 99 yards and a touchdown), along with Andre Roberts.
Don’t leave us, Jamaal Charles
If Jamaal Charles misses any significant game time, the Chiefs’ season is over.
Knile Davis was solid in relief of Charles during Kansas City’s loss to Denver, rushing for 79 yards with two touchdowns. But a team doesn’t lose a player who accounted for 36.6 percent of its offense last year while also leading the team in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, and expect everything to remain peachy.
Fortunately, it sounds like that nightmare will wait for another day. Charles may miss time, and possibly a few games. But Jason La Canfora reported that his ankle sprain is “mild”.
It was “mild” enough to keep him out for three quarters yesterday, so we’ll see.
Elsewhere in “mild”
The Chiefs really do have this team unity thing down to a fine science. First Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito suffered identical ruptured Achilles injuries, and now both Charles and Eric Berry sprained ankles.
La Canfora also reports Berry’s sprain is mild, and it needs to be. The Chiefs are already decimated defensively, and after dropping their first two games the Dolphins, Patriots, and 49ers are due up before a Week 6 bye. Not good.
This week in we can’t have nice things
As football fans, watching highly talented football men to awesome football things is fun. So when we lost Jadeveon Clowney last week for a while, that really sucked. Now we’ll have to bravely go forward without A.J. Green.
Not for long, as it’s expected a turf toe injury will keep him out until Week 5, after the Bengals’ bye. But even a week without Green is too much for our aching hearts.
Cincinnati flexed its offensive depth after Green left early in the first quarter. Even without his top two receivers (Green and Marvin Jones), Andy Dalton still led an offense that finished with 472 yards, 169 of which came from all-purpose everyman Giovanni Bernard in a win over the Falcons.
It’s early, and it’s September, and blah blah. But the Bengals look like legitimate championship contenders again. Now they just have to win a playoff game.
Football can be unfair and awful
When he celebrates another birthday next month, Charles Tillman will be a 34-year-old cornerback. He’s currently on a one-year contract, and at his position creeping towards the age of 35 also means facing that everlasting, glowing light at the end of a career.
He knows this, and has seen peers like Champ Bailey fade away silently. That’s why football became the cold, cruel jerk it often is when Tillman suffered another torn triceps injury during the Bears’ win over San Francisco Sunday night. He missed the final seven games of 2013 with the same injury.
Now there’s a real possibility his career is over, a reality that may have been sinking in here. Brutal.
Damn. Charles Tillman weeping on the sideline after triceps injury. Terrible news for great guy pic.twitter.com/LehfNATonK
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) September 15, 2014
And more pain…
- So much more. Adding to the agony of blowing a 17-point lead, the 49ers may also lose Vernon Davis for a few weeks after he left Sunday night’s loss with an ankle injury. He was hobbling on crutches after the game.
- Ryan Mathews is hurt again, so it feels like the world is at peace. Mathews reportedly suffered a sprained MCL, which is better than an ACL tear, but still awful. More testing awaits, but depending on the severity he could be out for at least a month. Donald Brown will slide up and become the Chargers’ primary running back, with Danny Woodhead staying in a change-of-pace role.
- Gerald McCoy broke his hand, a massive loss for an already crippled Bucs defensive front playing without Adrian Clayborn for the season. An exact length will be determined, but he’ll miss significant time. McCoy is one of the league’s premier defensive tackles, and had a career high nine sacks in 2013, with 50 tackles.
