FanPost

On Injuries

Some interesting points were raised in the post about Vernon Butler and Gabriel Davis not practicing on Wednesday. The discussion in the comments worked around to talk about Patrick Mahomes. Some Rumblers stated that they would rather face a 100% Mahomes than beat the Chiefs without him. That is a topic perhaps worthy of a fanpost but wasn't what caught my attention.

Several Rumblers hoped that Mahomes wouldn't play if he was indeed suffering from concussion related symptoms. They weren't approaching it from an advantage (for Buffalo) perspective but instead from the view of his long term health. In order to remove any AFC Championship considerations from the conversation, let that be the end of Mahomes' part in this post. To take things a step farther, consider health considerations beyond those related to brain injuries.

As a test for this thought experiment, think about Calvin Johnson. He was a fantastic WR and had his share of football injuries during his career. One of those injuries, to my recollection, was just part of being a WR catching bullets from Matthew Stafford. HIs fingers were wrecked during the normal course of his playing career. Someone with medical knowledge can chime in but it's a fair bet that Johnson will have some quality of life challenges down the road if he doesn't have them already. The damage to his hands isn't the same as a neurological impairment, and won't be as visible to those who meet him in an airport as a constant limp would be. Still, some daily tasks may be difficult for him now or may become so in the future.

Do we care?

When Beasley was on the field in the Colts game we knew that he was gimpy due to a knee injury. When he was bringing in passes and moving the sticks did you think to yourself, "He shouldn't be playing"? I know that thought didn't make the trip across the void between my ears during the game. The team doctors pronounced him 'healthy enough' to be on the field and so he played--and played well. We and his team respect him for gutting it out, a perception that contributed to Beasley's desire to play even with the lingering effects of the injury and the possibility of doing more damage to that joint. A mobility impairment has a deleterious impact on quality of life.

Again, do we care?

When I ask if we care I'm not asking if we're a bunch of soulless ghouls. I'm asking if we care enough to sacrifice on-field results. If Beasley didn't play against Indy there's a real chance that Buffalo may still be nursing that no-win playoff streak. Would parking him on the bench until he was 100% have been worth the risk of being bounced out of the playoffs? Since we have access to those results, lets say the Bills squeak out a win in KC and head to the Super Bowl....but Diggs is hurt towards the end of the game. Lets call it a knee injury that he can play through and still be nearly as effective as he normally is but with some percentage chance of a normal hit leading to an Alex Smith type years long "recovery" with lifelong implications.

Would you want Diggs to play?

Are there types of injuries that you would classify as "inactive until 100%" and types of injuries that players should be allowed to "gut it out"? A couple of things to bear in mind is that there aren't many injuries that don't have long term implications--Calvin Johnson's hands, for example, won't kill him but may well lower his quality of life. Is that an acceptable trade off for his on field performance? If so, why? Working in special ed I understand better than most our society's discomfort with cognitive/mental health issues vs acceptance of physical/sensory issues.

The players themselves want to play, largely due to the rich - by our standards - contracts enjoyed by even the guys on the fringes of the roster. They understand that teams are not at all likely to sign players who miss "too many" games due to an unwillingness to get on the field with the medical staff says the player is "healthy enough." Add in that many players have performance incentives that can only be met by playing....and that while teams give fat contracts based on what they expect a player to do instead of what he has done, what he has done is an indicator of what he will be able to do. The players want to take the risks inherent to football. They want to take the risk of exacerbating an injury. They prioritize maximizing earnings in the NFL over future quality of life.

Why do I suddenly feel the need to go watch The Last Boy Scout? .

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.