Limping out of the gate
Deja vu: From cryotherapy to players with injury histories, the toll is mounting
The NFL regular season starts in one month, and the local teams seem to be right on schedule:
For more injuries, question marks and bizarre circumstances.
Both the Raiders (local for one more year) and the 49ers desperately need success this season, coming off disastrous 2018 campaigns.
But the news this week has not been exactly encouraging. The reports out of the respective camps do not provide reason to believe everything has changed or glorious success is around the corner.
Let’s start with the strangest news, which — not surprisingly — comes from Team Strange, the Raiders.
Antonio Brown — the superstar receiver who is supposed to create a flood of touchdowns and make everyone magically forget about the talent drain in the first year of Jon Gruden’s return — isn’t practicing.
Because, according to reports, Brown has frostbite.
This goes on the list of most bizarre NFL injuries ever. Though the Raiders themselves aren’t saying anything, several wellsourced outlets have reported that Brown suffered frostbite on his feet because of undergoing cryotherapy treatment without wearing appropriate footwear.
Anyone who watched the first episode of “Hard Knocks” saw that Brown appeared to have difficulty even walking on the field. Team trainer Rod Martin said on camera that the receiver “can’t handle the sharp cuts.”
Cryotherapy is a newage treatment that is supposed to help the body heal. It’s like a superintense, superquick ice bath, with freezing temperatures generated by liquid nitrogen. The treatment is touted as a type of miracle cure by those selling cryotherapy machines, but it has not been approved by the FDA and many experts voice skepticism over the benefits. What is known is that those seeking the treatment must wear protective, and dry, gloves and socks.
The NFL is a league of injuries and there is not much that teams can do to prevent them. However, they can try to mitigate injuries in a couple of ways.
One way is to make sure players don’t put themselves at risk with risky behavior or treatments. Another is to avoid players with a history of injury.
The first case seems to apply to Brown and the Raiders. The latter case is a concern with the 49ers.
The 49ers’ top draft pick, Nick Bosa, arrived in camp with a history of injuries. The No. 2 overall draft pick played in only three games at Ohio State last season because of a muscle injury that required surgery, the main rap against him in draft analyses.
In May, he suffered a hamstring injury in his second NFL practice and missed the rest of the offseason program. On Wednesday, in his 10th trainingcamp practice, Bosa suffered a serious ankle injury.
General manager John Lynch said in a radio interview Thursday morning that it was “a significant ankle sprain” with “some components” of a high ankle sprain. Lynch said Bosa will not play in the preseason and that the team would be “very prudent.” Which means Bosa’s availability for the season opener in Tampa Bay is in question.
Ankle sprains happen. Trainingcamp injuries happen. But it is hard to overstate how critical Bosa is to Lynch’s reputation and, potentially, his job security. With the passage of time, Lynch’s first two drafts look average. His third draft, which came in April, needs to be a clear winner.
The team went all in with Bosa, who came with a couple of red flags, including injury concerns. He received rave reviews in the first week of practice. But now, he is shelved for the time being.
“We don’t feel he is injury prone,” Lynch said on KNBR.
Lynch’s draft and the 49ers’ offseason signings included several other players coming off serious injuries that caused them to miss time in either college or their previous NFL stop.
That might not be a big deal in other franchises — but it is a big deal with the 49ers. Lynch replaced a general manager, Trent Baalke, whose penchant for taking players with ACL injuries became both a punchline and — ultimately — a job killer.
Dee Ford, another prize defensiveline acquisition who also came with injury concerns, hasn’t practiced since the first few days of camp because of a knee issue. The news Thursday was even gloomier: that running back Jerick McKinnon, coming off an ACL injury, and cornerbacks K’Waun Williams and Jason Verrett all will miss the preseason and be questionable for the season opener.
In the wake of a fourwin season, the 49ers fired their head athletic trainer and their head strength coach. The team used injured reserve 41 times during the first two years of the LynchKyle Shanahan regime and the firings implied that there was something wrong with the way injuries were being both prevented and addressed.
“Following a thorough evaluation, we have determined that now is the right time for a reboot in the structure and protocols of our health and performance areas,” Lynch said back in January.
Maybe being more cautious is part of the reboot. But training camp exists for players to find timing and game fitness.
Now there are just four weeks until the regular season begins.
The local teams seem to be on schedule. But for what?