NOTE: This column is a living document. I'll be updating as needed after team press conferences, imaging reports, Monday Night Football injuries, etc. Major changes to the content will be noted in red. I'll also be retweeting any key pieces of news and my own reaction and analysis, so make sure you're following @JeneBramel and checking my timeline on Twitter throughout the week.
[My continued wishes for happy holidays to everyone and safe travels for those off to visit family and friends this week. There will be no Inside the Injury Report on Wednesday, but I'll have a brief Sunday AM Injury Expectations column for those unfortunate souls forced to navigate the waters of a Week 17 fantasy championship game.]
We're nearing the end of another NFL regular season. Hopefully, your NFL team has clinched a playoff spot and your fantasy team has won a championship. My sincere thanks to those who have read my columns and have so graciously interacted with me by email or on Twitter. It's been another enjoyable and fascinating season.
Though I won't be writing a regularly scheduled weekly column after the NFL season ends, I'll continue to write frequently about injuries around the NFL. New stories will be posted to the Second Opinion blog page at Footballguys and I'm active on Twitter year round.
And it's going to be a fascinating offseason. Last year was headlined by the saga of Rob Gronkowski and comparisons between Robert Griffin III and Adrian Peterson before a rash of major training camp injuries began. But the list of open-ended injury questions is much longer this season. I've detailed many I'll be following carefully later in this week's column. I'll also be covering the injuries that may affect the status of those entering the NFL draft again this year.
INJURY ROUNDS
The most devastating injury came on the defensive side of the ball this week, with Von Miller lost for the season to an ACL tear. And yet another offensive lineman is done with a catastrophic knee injury. The latest to fall is Jake Long, who is also done for the year with an ACL tear.
430 ET: Adam Schefter tweets that Tony Romo's back injury will end his season. There's been no report on the specifics of his MRI or confirmation from the team or Romo yet. More to follow...
700 ET: Blog post on Romo's back injury, why it may be connected to his offseason cyst removal and a discussion of his prospects for this week and the offseason.
von miller | ACL | out for season
Von Miller injured his ACL and is lost for the season. That's a critical blow for the Broncos. The early buzz on Twitter included two interesting comments.
First, Vic Lombardi suggested that Miller had been feeling some looseness in his knee before yesterday's game. That doesn't necessarily mean that Miller had a slight sprain of his ACL at the start of the game. But since the injury occurred very early in the game, it's fair to wonder if Miller's knee wasn't right when the game began. That's not to imply the injury was missed by the Denver medical staff. There's no indication that Miller reported his symptoms before the game. And, if he did report symptoms, manual testing of Miller's knee may not have shown evidence of a sprain if the damage was minimal.
Second, Ian Rapoport tweeted that Miller felt like his knee was stable enough after the injury to return to the game yesterday. That's not uncommon. Adrenaline and the peak condition of stabilizing muscles in an elite athlete are sometimes enough to make an athlete believe he is healthier than he may actually be. Manual testing of Miller's knee obviously suggested otherwise, however, as the medical staff ruled him out shortly after he was carted to the locker room.
Miller's MRI reportedly showed no additional injuries, but there appears to be enough swelling that his surgery will not be scheduled for 2-3 weeks. Should his rehab go smoothly, Miller could return some time during training camp next season.
calvin johnson | knee / ankle | day-to-day
Johnson has ongoing knee soreness, a newer ankle concern and there are rumors that a back injury could be limiting his upper body range of motion and strength. There were real concerns that Johnson would miss yesterday's game and he was clearly limited against the Giants. Jim Schwartz wouldn't rule Johnson out for Week 17. He also said none of Johnson's injuries would require surgery.
I'm not sure I but anything Schwartz had to say today. If Johnson's injuries aren't already related, they are putting him at high risk of a more severe cascade injury. With the Lions now out of playoff contention, there's no reason to risk Johnson's long term health. And I've wondered whether Johnson's injury was cartilage related and might warrant an offseason scope since October. His story is one of many that have my close attention heading into the offseason.
steve smith | pcl sprain | week-to-week
Smith grabbed the back of his knee without contact during a route yesterday. That's an unusual mechanism of injury for a knee sprain. More often, it's a significant hamstring strain near the end of the muscle. The Panthers called it a knee injury, however, and today told the media that it was a PCL sprain and that Smith was week-to-week. Even low grade PCL sprains can be tough to recover quickly from, however. Both James Jones and Keenan Allen have taken longer than the original estimate to return in recent months. It may be tough for Smith to return to full strength until the second or third week of the playoffs.
aaron rodgers | fractured clavicle | WEEK-TO-WEEK
The drama surrounding Rodgers' injured collarbone heightened last week. Despite developments that pushed the Packers closer to a playoff berth, Rodgers took fewer practice reps and did not have another scan to assess the healing of his collarbone. Sunday morning, Chris Mortensen reported on ESPN's pregame show that the team felt there was "extraordinary risk" in clearing Rodgers for contact.
Whether Mortensen's report is more public relations or medical reasoning is debatable. What's clear is that Rodgers wasn't close to clearance last week -- seven weeks after his injury -- and the medical staff and front office will not be motivated to accelerate Rodgers' return regardless of the team's playoff status. It's also clear that Rodgers and McCarthy will not be able to overrule the medical staff.
Anything is possible this week, but it's unlikely that Rodgers will gain clearance this week unless the medical staff did in fact set a hard minimum rest period of eight weeks early in the process.
eddie lacy | ankle sprain | day-to-day
It's tough and painful to play through foot and ankle injuries as a running back. Reinforcement with taping and anti-inflammatory injections can only do so much to protect a joint that gets torqued multiple times on every carry. The Packers won't rule out Lacy today, but expect another week of aggressive treatment in the hopes that Lacy can get on the practice field for a few reps on Friday and play in Week 17.
wes welker | concussion | week-to-week
The Broncos didn't allow Welker to practice last week. It's possible that Welker is continuing to have concussion-related symptoms or has yet to pass his neurocognitive computer tests. More likely, the Denver medical staff decided that they would not advance Welker into the later stages of the exercise protocol for a set number of weeks. The Broncos have yet to seal home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, but have clinched a first round bye and could easily decide to hold Welker out for another three weeks. Another concussion this year would undoubtedly end his season.
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Andre Brown (concussion), Ryan Mathews (ankle), Emmanuel Sanders (meniscus tear), Toby Gerhart (aggravated hamstring strain), Shane Vereen (strained groin), among others are also dealing with injuries that could keep them out in Week 17. Tony Romo has a back injury that will be further evaluated with an MRI today, but there's no indication he's at risk of sitting this week (see above for more details on Romo's back injury).
offseason followup appointments
We'll soon learn that some players need surgery for injuries that have nagged them for months. Some of them will be surprising at first, but obvious in hindsight. We'll hear sporadic updates on players currently in rehab. Many of those updates will sound more reassuring than they actually are.
Teams do not provide a detailed weekly injury report during OTAs, minicamp and training camp. Players are under no obligation to share any details about their injuries, treatments or rehabilitation. That makes tracking offseason injury stories both fascinating and frustrating.
Here's a sampling of the long list of interesting questions I'll be following between now and July:
- Will Calvin Johnson's knee condition heal with rest or does he need surgery? Was one epidural injection enough to treat Dez Bryant's herniated disc or will he consider offseason surgery? Does Danny Amendola need sports hernia surgery?
- How much drama will surround the surgery, recovery and return to play of Rob Gronkowski?
- Will any new details about the slower than expected recoveries of Aaron Rodgers and Percy Harvin be released?
- Is it time to consider players like Adrian Peterson and Julio Jones and Rob Gronkowski injury prone? Is it time to take the injury prone label off of players like DeMarco Murray?
- How is the rehab of Julio Jones, Doug Martin, Arian Foster, Cecil Shorts, Jeremy Maclin, Reggie Wayne and Dwayne Allen progressing?
- What changes might the NFL make to concussion diagnosis and clearance? How soon will Jordan Reed's symptoms resolve?
- Will Jermichael Finley and David Wilson be cleared to play in 2014?
- How much, if any, of Robert Griffin III's struggles this year can be attributed to ongoing ACL concerns?
- Can Marcus Lattimore return to full form in 2014? How about Danario Alexander? Travis Kelce?
I'll be updating this feature throughout the day. Footballguys Insiders will get a full update with additional fantasy perspectives on Wednesday, with analysis of the week's game-time decisions early Sunday morning. Follow me on Twitter @JeneBramel for breaking injury news and analysis throughout the week.
