Injuries starting to pile up in dog days of NFL camps
These are the dog days of NFL training camps. Three weeks in, three weeks until the regular season.
It's when aches and pains turn to breaks and sprains. And fans and coaches alike practically hold their collective breath, hoping key players make it through another day unscathed.
Canada's Chase Claypool gave the Pittsburgh Steelers and their fans a huge scare at Tuesday's practice. He needed help from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and tight end Eric Ebron just to make it off the field, after injuring an ankle. Turns out, it's just a mild sprain, and the Abbotsford, B.C., native won't be out long.
Claypool himself implied as much on Tuesday evening with this short and simple tweet: “All is well.”
The 23-year-old sat out Wednesday's practice. So did a couple of young quarterbacks.
In Green Bay, second-year pivot Jordan Love of the Packers hasn't suited up since dinging a shoulder in last Saturday's pre-season game. Seems he's unlikely to play on Saturday against the New York Jets.
“(We) don't want to put him in a situation to make it worse,” Packers head coach Matt Lafleur said.
Tell the Chicago Bears about it. Head coach Matt Nagy announced Wednesday that rookie quarterback Justin Fields has suffered a minor groin pull. The goal still is to have Fields play Saturday against Buffalo, but the team will be “super conservative” in making such a decision, Nagy said.
Worse for the Bears, rookie offensive tackle Teven Jenkins — a second-round pick — will have to undergo back surgery and he won't return soon.
“The goal is to get him back this season,” Nagy said.
In Philadelphia, Eagles tight end Tyree Jackson is out 8 to 10 weeks with a backbone fracture, reports said.
Kansas City Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-tardif hasn't practised since last week because of a hand injury, which head coach Andy Reid said Wednesday was “healing up fast.”
JOINT PRACTICES GALORE
The trend of NFL teams holding joint practices during training camp seems only to be strengthening.
Fourteen joint practices were scheduled this year, starting early this month with the Los Angeles Rams and host Dallas Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif., and concluding Aug. 25 with the New York Giants and their hosts, the New England Patriots.
The busiest day of the summer came Wednesday when there were five joint sessions.
There are two more joint practices slated for Thursday: The Giants and the host Cleveland Browns, while the San Francisco 49ers join the host Los Angeles Chargers in Costa Mesa.
The reason for all these double-team sessions? Coaches want players — especially fringe players they're trying to evaluate — to face different opposing players and not the same teammates they face daily during camp.
CENTRE OF ATTENTION
The Detroit Lions are making a big deal about Don Muhlbach, the team's long snapper for 17 years until the club released him Tuesday. Plaudits from Lions players past and present have poured in.
But owner Sheila Ford Hamp might have unknowingly summed up the sad state of the franchise under Ford family ownership since the 1950s when she offered up this over-baked assessment:
“Don Muhlbach will go down as one of the all-time Detroit Lions greats.”
Honestly, she said that. About a long snapper.
EXTRA POINTS
Atlanta picked up Eli Ankou of Ottawa, a day after the Buffalo Bills waived him. He's a run-stuffing defensive lineman who has bounced around the league the past two seasons ... Veteran Bears quarterback Andy Dalton told reporters Wednesday that rookie hotshot Justin Fields is “going to have his time, and Justin's going to have a great career. But right now, it's my time.”