NFL can't protect QBS from freak, non-contact injuries
By The Associated Press
The NFL has done everything in its power to protect quarterbacks short of putting a flag on them.
Can’t him them high. Can’t him them low. Can’t touch them too late.
But the two most devastating QB injuries this season didn’t involve a violent hit. Kirk Cousins wasn’t even touched before he went down Sunday.
Aaron Rodgers was barely hit on a sack when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon on the fourth play of his first game with the New York Jets in September.
The Minnesota Vikings lost Cousins for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. Cousins, who has never missed a game because of an injury in his 12-year career, is done for 2023 after suffering the non-contact injury on a freak play.
“Three-man rush and he kind of stepped up in the pocket. That is all I saw,” Vikings coach Kevin O’connell said. “I just know in some of my dialogue with Kirk it seems like maybe his cleat might have gotten stuck in the ground or whatever it was. It probably isn’t right for me to speculate. I just know that it was incredibly, incredibly unfortunate in that moment.”
Rodgers was spun around by Buffalo’s Leonard Floyd on a seemingly innocent play when he got hurt. His injury occurred on a turf field at Metlife Stadium, leading the NFL Players Association to call for all teams to switch to a high-quality natural grass. Half the league’s stadiums have turf. Cousins got hurt on a grass surface at Lambeau Field.
Injuries are piling up for quarterbacks across the league.
Matthew Stafford, Tyrod Taylor, Kenny Pickett and Desmond Ridder couldn’t finish their games Sunday. Deshaun Watson, Daniel Jones, Anthony Richardson, Justin Fields and Ryan Tannehill were among the other starting QBS who didn’t play in Week 8 because of injuries.
Taylor got hurt when he took a crushing shot and was tackled on turf. He was running to the right sideline when Quinton Jefferson wrapped up his legs and C.J. Mosley hit him from behind, landing on his back and driving Taylor’s chest into the ground.
Taylor was hospitalized with an injury to his rib cage. He was staying overnight for observation.
“You never know what play it is, what time it is, if it’s going to happen, if it’s not going to happen so there’s a tough part about staying ready, being ready for that role, which is what makes that position so difficult,” said Giants thirdstring QB Tommy Devito, an undrafted rookie from Illinois, who finished 2 of 7 for minus-1 yard in a 13-10 loss to the Jets.
Except for the Vikings, who were up 24-10 and won by that score when Cousins went out, every team that lost its quarterback on Sunday lost.
Stafford injured his thumb in the first half of the Rams’ 43-20 loss at Dallas. Pickett injured his ribs in Pittsburgh’s 20-10 loss to Jacksonville. Ridder was evaluated for a concussion and cleared to return but didn’t come back into Atlanta’s 28-23 loss at Tennessee.
GIANTS TRADE DL WILLIAMS TO FIRST-PLACE SEAHAWKS >>
The struggling New York Giants have traded defensive end Leonard Williams to the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks for a pair of draft picks, according to a person with knowledge of the trade.
The person, who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the teams have not announced the deal, said the Giants will receive a second-round draft choice in 2024 and a fifthrounder in 2025 for Williams, who had a $32 million salary cap hit this season, the highest on the team.
Seattle (5-2) has two thirdround picks next year, which will help soften the blow of giving up a second-rounder.
HURTS’ INJURED KNEE RAISES CONCERN >>
All Jalen Hurts did on an injured left knee was throw for 319 yards and four touchdowns and led the Philadelphia Eagles to another win.
Hurts even failed to throw an interception for the first time in four games. To top off his list of accomplishments, Hurts rallied the Eagles back from a halftime deficit to beat the Washington Commanders 38-31 and make them the only 7-1 team in the NFL.
How much better could Hurts have played on two healthy legs?
Just how much his banged-up left knee is really bothering him, well, Hurts won’t say. He’s downplayed the severity of the injury — though clearly it has made him reluctant to run — and remained focused on staying in the lineup and keeping the Eagles tops in the NFL.
“I told you guys I really don’t wanna speak on it anymore,” Hurts said.
He’ll let his numbers do the talking instead.
Hurts became the 6th player in NFL history to record 300-plus total yards and at least two total touchdowns in six straight games.
The Atlanta Falcons have been dealt a huge blow on the defensive side, losing tackle Grady Jarrett for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The 30-year-old Jarrett tore an ACL during the early minutes of a 28-23 loss to the Tennessee Titans, coach Arthur Smith said Monday. He didn’t specify which knee was injured . ... Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the season after suffering a torn ligament in his knee, according to a person with knowledge of the diagnosis. Testing revealed the extent of the injury Bourne incurred during Sunday’s 31-17 loss to Miami said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on Monday on the condition of anonymity because Bourne’s status had not been announced.
OUT FOR THE SEASON >>