squeaky wheel said:
Selassie I said:
My 2 cents on our injury bug...
ALL teams in the NFL suffer due to injuries during every year. Injuries to vital positions like the colts are experiencing are more damaging than others,,, the same could be said when a team suffers a large number of injuries to any position during the same year. Overcoming the injury bug is the challenge that some do better than others.
Let's think about what Dick Vermeil had to say right after our prized FA QB Trent Green went down for the year during the pre-season... "We will put KW in there (the guy who was bagging groceries KW) AND WE WILL PLAY GOOD FOOTBALL". I know I didn't get the quote exactly right, but it's close enough. Coach Vermeil didn't say something like... Oh, this is really gonna be tough to overcome, or this makes things way more challenging now. He made no excuses, and clearly stated that the Rams would PLAY GOOD FOOTBALL. He demanded that in a sense.
Coach Parcells used to get reports from the trainers listing how much time each player spent in the training room. He would make it clear to his players during training camp that if he felt you were an injury prone player, or a player who may try and "milk" an injury,,, you were not going to last long on one of his teams. A caveman like way to motivate players is what I bet some of you are thinking,,, he's got SB jewelry last time I checked.
Bill B-Cheat hates even saying the word injury. The way he answers questions concerning injuries is brilliant if you ask me,,, he's been known to give totally inaccurate information on purpose concerning injuries (allegedly). His right hand man certainly isn't his trainer from listening to him avoid answers about player status.
All teams have injuries, and all teams have a certain acceptance level concerning them. I've mentioned this in another thread recently and I didn't see anyone respond to it, so I assume I may be completely alone in my thinking here, but I do not like the way Spags handles his injuries at any time during his time here with us. And I'm not saying that a HC shouldn't be concerned for his player's safety.
But...
I don't like how he gives way more details about a player's injury than you would her from most coaches (certainly way more than B-Cheat).
I don't like how he appears closer to the trainer Reggie than he does to some of his coaches. He definitely talks about how much time he spends with Reggie more than I hear him talking about time with coaches.
I believe he leaves the door open for lazy players to "milk" the injury system with his perceived public sensitivity to injuries. We've all been told that what you see in Spags when he is in front of the camera is the exact same Spags that exists behind the locker room doors. I'm not calling out any players (ala Martz vs Turley) here, but I'm speaking the truth when I say that some people are just freaking lazy, and will find the "easy" way to skate by because it's just in their freaking nature. From what I've seen from Spags, I have to believe that he is more susceptible to being taken advantage of by these kinds of players.
I get the impression that Spags is building up a case for him being given more time (another year) because of the injuries. I don't like that either.
Maybe I'm just archaic and loco in la cabeza in my thoughts here, but I feel better now that I got it out.
This is an excellent post. Not just because X got intestinal cramps from reading it (j/k dude) but rather the new viable direction taken within this thread. Lots to chew on here.
Then add to it. :huh:
I agree with Selassie about the injuries, and how some teams can be more adversely affected by them. The Colts are a PRIME example of that. The Seahawks were supposed to be staunch defenders of the NFC West title, but their players are dropping like flies too. The main point I'm trying to make is that the Rams were a team (before the season ever started) that was very vulnerable if they suffered key injuries. Their core group of players were enough to contend and even make a run. That core group started falling off from day 1 of training camp.
Where's the depth that can overcome these injuries? And by "depth", I mean guys that have been groomed to be replacements over time. Guys who were able to spell the starters on occasion when they became tired. The only position that was present was at linebacker. Chamberlain and Kehl were the only "backups" who had significant playing time in this same defensive scheme. Not surprisingly, they did well when they came in for Leber and Poppinga. Feeley is a veteran with lots of game experience, so that didn't hurt as much either. Cadillac was a serviceable backup too. Goldberg at RT was another solid fit due to his past experience.
That's where it ends.
Maybe if that's where the injuries ended, we'd be alright. There was no answer to Amendola getting injured until Salas got up to speed, and then HE was lost. There was no answer to the 4 backup corners who got injured, but somehow, some way, Spags was able to change his defense around to compensate for that weakness. After the AZ game, we were in danger of having only two defensive tackles. Long's been playing hurt. Jackson played hurt, Bradford played hurt, Gibson played hurt, Chamberlain played hurt, Robbins plays hurt, and so on.
Again, that's only PART of the problem. You can discuss it or you can wave it off as though I'm talking nonsense.
You made a point a while back about the lack of judgement in giving Shurmur a 2 year deal. I backed that. I expanded on it by pointing out McDaniels' deal and how it could have the same adverse affect on Bradford if HE leaves. There's no succession plan in place. It's all up in the air now (his future). That's not good. So if you think I'm all about taking you to task, then put that out of your head immediately. If you have a problem with my views on this, then don't use other people as a conduit to tell me that. Just TELL me that.