Victor Cruz, torn patellar tendon. Watching Cruz weep in agony, both physical and emotional, on the cart as he was ferried the the locker room sank remarkably low into my gut; even as a fan of a team rival, I felt horrible for the young man. Cruz is a small slot receiver, one who relies on his elite twitchiness and solid hands to make plays. A torn patellar tendon often saps heaps of agility from players, and its effects can linger for longer than most other knee injuries. This doesn't spell the end for Cruz, but in the midst of assumedly mind-rattling pain, he may have also realized his bright-looking career may now be in serious jeopardy.
Knowshon Moreno, torn ACL. Another case of a possible career-ender, Moreno's knees have given him problems since he entered the league. After leaving Denver for South Beach, he had a knee scope done that took a particularly long time to heal up; most smart drafters avoided him like the plague. Moreno surprisingly returned for the season opener, and put up a fantastic game against New England. Then, he dislocated his elbow; in his wake, Lamar Miller was given a mulligan on his final shot at running the ball for Miami. He showed signs of tapering off some as Moreno prepared to return this week, which seemingly set the stage for a return to glory by the ex-Denver RB. Unfortunately, upon his return from THAT injury, he blew out his knee. In sum, if "injury prone" is theme of Halloween nightmares, Moreno's taken his throne as the Pumpkin King. It remains to be seen if he can ever convince another team to pay him more than deep backup money, or even if his ability can return after yet another knee injury.
Stevan Ridley & Jerod Mayo, full knee blowouts. These New England players went hand-in-hand into the infirmary this weekend. Ridley, tragically, was in the midst of a strong fumble-free campaign, cementing himself as one of the better power backs in the league. He should be ready for camp next year, but leaves the Pats pretty thin behind old number 12. Ridley's pass protection in particular will be missed, as it was part of the offensive line's turnaround following their Monday Night wallop. Mayo's loss, meanwhile, weakens an already-shaky run defense, and rings loud for a player who already got a paycheck much bigger than his game.
Alex Mack, broken leg. Mack has long been a top-tier center, having finished in the top-ten of his colleagues every year and scoring a big extension from the Browns last season. His loss will be incredibly difficult to overcome, especially for Shanny Jr.'s new-look offense. Mack's road-grading power underscored the success Cleveland's backfield has experienced thus far, and he's helped to keep Hoyer remarkably clean and turnover-free. Now, the Dog Pound must adapt to life without their best lineman. The entire team gets knocked down for his loss; if the run game tapers off, that means less time for them to play keep-away and keep their underwhelming defense off the field.
Calvin Johnson, ankle sprain. Megatron finally sat out a game after spraining his ankle a few weeks ago. Playing on a sprain, as Roddy White and C.J. Spiller will attest to, does far more harm than good. Even though Mega ran solely as a decoy in the games following his sprain, the potential for it to worsen (or having already worsened) is extremely high. Of course, the only way for sprains to heal is with lots of rest, so be prepared to be without your first-rounder for a handful of weeks as his health returns. Thankfully, ankle sprains rarely evolve into future problems, but his recent propensity towards picking up nicks and soft-tissue injuries may hint at age finally seeping into the phenom's body.
Theo Riddick, hamstring aggravation. Joique Bell and Reggie Bush are getting on in years (Bell is 28, Bush 29), and while both are under contract for a few years, neither carries a big enough cap hit to escape release should their abilities finally suffer from time's long march. Enter Theo Riddick, a former practice-squadder who's climbed the ranks to third string RB over the past two years. Riddick flashed some major pass-catching ability out of the backfield this weekend, in relief of Bush (shelved by another injury, who knew?) Near the end of the day, though, he aggravated a lingering hamstring injury that forced him from the field. Hammies have long caused recurring problems for backs if they keep re-injuring early on; hopefully, Riddick will kick it soon, or he may lose out on the starting opportunity he's potentially afforded before it even comes.
Montee Ball's groin injury, as I learned upon some more research, may carry further health implications for him than I'd originally thought. Groin pulls and strains of the severity he suffered have the potential to linger for years in running athletes, due to the movements required to dash, plant, and cut. If not careful in his rehab, he also risks a sudden tear. This week, Ronnie Hillman popped off on the vaunted Jets run defense, passing the century mark for the first time in his career; when combined with the current state of his injury, Ball's season outlook takes on a more grim shade of "uh-oh."
0 comments:
Post a Comment