Filed under: Atlanta Falcons, NFC SouthFLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Erik Coleman, the player representative for the Atlanta Falcons, said the NFLPA is researching medical data to give an accurate portrayal of what adding two more games to the regular season will mean to players as far as injuries.
Some of the data should not be hard to find. It screams at you through headlines after four weeks of the season.
The Falcons have lost running back Jerious Norwood to a season-ending knee injury. The Saints have lost three running backs to injury, including star Reggie Bush. Fellow Saints running back Pierre Thomas did not play last week in a narrow win over Carolina.
The Panthers' Steve Smith was injured Sunday and will likely not play against the Bears. Panthers tackle Jeff Otah has still not played this season because of a knee injury, a major loss for Carolina considering its struggles on offense.
These are just the high-profile cases. If the NFL wants to add games, they should add jobs, said Atlanta safety Thomas DeCoud, a third-year pro.
"There has to be some kind of tradeoff for adding two more games, whether it is adding roster spots. There has to be a two-way street," DeCoud said.
Coleman, however, is not sure adding jobs is the remedy. It is the stars getting hurt. What protects them?
"I don't know that would be tradeoff because the starters are the ones out there playing," Coleman said. "To add those games would definitely add to the injury risk. You want a high-quality game. You want to give the fans the game they deserve. It's a great game.
"It's tough enough right now. Tom Brady of the Patriots was saying how they go to the playoffs consistently and deep into the playoffs and it is tough making it from season to season playing those extra games." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
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