Current media coverage of NFL injuries is terrible. There, I said what we were all thinking. Whew, that feels better.
Traditional sports injury coverage seems to largely ignore the recent statistical revolution, and I think that’s strange. In response, I have built an enormous database of past NFL injuries and the respective rehab timelines. Questionable To Start uses this database to offer a fresh and possibly more accurate perspective. More details about this approach can be found here.
Media coverage tends to ignore the larger picture. Reporters focus on whether or not a player is going to play in an upcoming game, but rarely look past that. If a player is out with an injury that historically sidelines someone for six weeks, the media tends to focus only on the week-by-week, or even day-by-day picture, largely ignoring anything beyond that short-sighted window. Questionable To Start is committed to taking a more holistic approach and looking at the larger picture. Rather than get caught up in the day-by-day analysis, Questionable To Start looks further ahead to estimate more realistic return dates. Furthermore, Questionable To Start looks at factors beyond just the injury itself. For example, if a player is out for a few weeks, it would be unfair not to look at the positional depth and wonder if that player will necessarily have a job to come back to.
Questionable To Start highlights how poor the existing coverage really is. I am amazed at how often the relevant injury details get ignored, while the player sound bites get repeated and reported ad nauseam. For example, the fact that a player says he is, “close to returning,” isn’t worth reporting if we know that he is still sporting a walking boot on his foot.
Questionable To Start provides coverage on issues that others in the media are not talking about. For example, some injuries tend to linger and affect future performance more than others. Some injuries start off looking limited and manageable, but then develop into something much more extreme. Current media coverage is slow to catch on to these developments.
The big question is always, “Are you a doctor?” No. Big time no. But I have seen the analysis and insight that doctors are putting out in regards to NFL injuries, and it tends to be terrible. Most of the doctors focus on medical terminology and explaining the injury, but then ignore the larger picture of how it will affect the player. Furthermore, most of the doctors seem afraid to take an educated guess, and, above all, they are afraid to be wrong. They will describe a quarterback’s broken collarbone in great detail, but then stop short of saying that nobody should realistically expect him to come back less than one month after the injury. They tend to fizzle out when it comes to the predictions, instead choosing safe and uninteresting lines like, “Nobody can really know for sure,” or, “We should have more details by the end of the week.” I don’t think that constitutes worthwhile coverage. Of course, there are exceptions to this, and Questionable To Start highlights the medical writers both good and bad in the NFL world.