Sometimes this database thing just works out so easily that I don’t even have any real work to do. Week 3 was just such a case. Three well-known players suffered the exact same injuries that they had last season! I’ve got to say, it was nice of them to help me out like this, as it makes my job so much easier. If you want to get all snippy with me, yeah, you could probably make the argument that perhaps on some level these aren’t actually exactly the same injuries. Maybe the ones the player had last year were more of less severe. Whatever. I’m just saying, as close as I can tell right now, this is a slam-dunk.
First up, Ravens TE Dennis Pitta. In yesterday’s game, Pitta had a horrible injury where he dislocated and fractured his right hip. It required all sorts of gross surgery that I don’t even want to think about, and I’m not entirely convinced that Dennis isn’t still pushing around a wheelbarrow containing his detached leg. Now obviously Pitta is done for the year. But some people do come back from dislocated and fractured hips. People like Dennis Pitta! In 2013, he suffered the exact same injury and came back to play the last four games of the season. Big difference is that, last time around, Pitta had the forethought to injure himself in July rather than September. That difference in timing should guarantee he doesn’t get back on the field this season.
Next up, Cardinals DB Antonio Cromartie. Yesterday Cromartie did a foolish thing and hyperextended his knee. Those can be scary, as there’s always a decent chance that the player suffered something more extensive as well, such as more severe ligament damage. From what’s come out so far though, it sounds like Cro (yes, people call him that) escaped with just the hyperextension. Well played Cro, well played. To get a good idea of how that might sideline him, we’d have to look all the way back to…. Antonio Cromartie in 2013. During an ugly season with an ugly team, Cromartie hyperextended his knee. He didn’t miss any games, although he was picked on pretty mercilessly by the Steelers in his next game. At least this year he has a bye week to work with.
Last one, Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart. In Sunday’s game, Stewart sprained his knee. I’ll be the first to point out that terms like, “sprained knee,” are a little too vague for me, and that there’s still plenty of details out there that I’d like to hear before I’m more comfortable with this comparison. A lot of different things within the knee could be sprained. This is like taking your car to a mechanic and telling him, “the motor’s busted.” But from my experience as an injury obsessed blogger, I can tell you that, “sprained knee,” ends up being specifically an MCL sprain fairly often. Sometimes it’s an LCL sprain, sometimes it a meniscus sprain, but mostly it tends to be MCL. You know where I’m going with all this by now, so let’s just get to it… Stewart sprained his MCL last season. It happened towards the end of the season, and he missed five weeks with the injury. Well technically, he might’ve missed more. We’ll never know, as he was inactive for a playoff loss, so he never did make it back into a game. (Damn, I know it was only last year, but Carolina in the playoffs!?! Did that really happen?)
I’m not saying that things will unfold exactly the same way they did in 2013 for these three players. But I am saying that I’ll probably never find a better comparison, so I’m not digging any further. I’m a busy man with important things to do.
