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Injuries Have Already Shaped the Early Season Narrative for Some NFL Teams

ANDY LEWIS/ICON SPORTSWIRE VIA GETTY IMAGES (JONES), DAVID T. FOSTER III/CHARLOTTE OBSERVER/TNS VIA GETTY IMAGES (OLSEN), STACY REVERE/GETTY IMAGES (RODGERS)

By JONATHAN JONES 

We’re less than an eighth of the way through the season and already some teams are forced to make difficult, potentially season-altering decisions with their top players with regards to injuries.


No, I’m not going to discuss how it seems like there are more injuries in Week 1 this year than years past—I intend to look at decisions teams are making about All-Pro-caliber players 10 days into the season.

The biggest of these is in Green Bay with quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers told Michele Tafoya that there was no question he’d face the Vikings this week. Then Mike McCarthy said not so fast, and the two-time MVP is considered week-to-week with a knee injury. It’s improbable the Packers can beat Minnesota without Rodgers, so sitting him would essentially forfeit a crucial division game that could eventually be a tiebreaker.

Of course, playing him too early risks potential for further injury and, ultimately, ending his season. How much of the long term is a team (or player) willing to risk for the short term?

In Philadelphia, Carson Wentz still isn’t cleared for contact, and Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles will start against Tampa Bay this weekend. Wentz is the franchise and Foles won’t be an Eagle in 2019. No reason to rush there.

In Atlanta, the Falcons were dealt massive Week 1 blows when they placed safety Keanu Neal and linebacker Deion Jones on the injured reserve. Neal is done for the season with an ACL, but Jones (foot) will have surgery that the Falcons hope will get him back on the field within the next eight weeks. (By the way, the NFL expanding the rule to two players who can return from IR is one of the best rule changes the league has put in place.)

Panthers tight end Greg Olsen is opting against surgery for a fractured foot and instead choosing rehab. Olsen lost almost all of last season to a similar fracture and doesn’t want to do this in consecutive seasons. He’ll try to play with the injury in a few weeks and have surgery after the season, and so the Panthers will carry him on their 53-man roster and make him inactive rather than place him on short-term IR.

All of these teams have legitimate playoff aspirations, and it’s interesting to watch how they weigh the odds and play this injury chess match.

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