The NFL is ramping up now and, as has been the case in recent years, the athletic trainers are as busy as ever. The injury reports are getting longer and the names on the list are getting more noteworthy.
Lamar Jackson has a left ankle sprain, Saquon Barkley has a hamstring injury, Ja’Marr Chase has a concussion, and Patrick Surtain II has a non-contact right ankle sprain.
Weekly it seems, questions are asked around the leakage. What can be done with the increasing numbers of injuries and why are there more players getting hurt.
With the NFL adding more safety hazards every year, logic says injuries should be slowing down, but they’ve been anything but. Actually, I believe the answer is simpler than most think.
Athletes are getting stronger and stronger. As football becomes more popular, so does the amount of work put into it. From a young age, kids are thrust into the world of football, filled with hurt, work, and pain. This has made players bigger, faster, and more explosive than ever.
Explosiveness can be a double-edged sword. The human body can only go so fast in so little time before it tears itself. Hamstrings, ACL’s, Achilles, ankles, knees. Usually, it’s not even the tackling that tears these parts; it’s the body finally giving in.
We also have the turf vs grass question.
Several NFL players have brought the dangers of turf to commissioners’ attention. While studies show little difference between the two, players are also 60% more likely to suffer a season-ending injury on turf. Combine that with players generally not wanting to play on turf, and it’s safe to say the NFL should switch to grass in most of the stadiums they play in.
A good reason why it feels like there are more injuries now than ever before is that WHO gets injured. More likely than not, if a random offensive lineman got hurt, then no one would really notice. However, when players like Lamar Jackson, Saquon Barkley, and Pat Surtain get injured, everyone notices.
Seven starting quarterbacks were injured in the first four weeks of the season. Jaxson Dart, Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, Sam Darnold, and Kyler Murray. All of them are huge pieces of their offenses and have a lot of eyes on them.
