I don’t really need to say it, do I? You don’t actually need a data-driven tool to tell you that Matt Cassel is done for the year, do you? I thought not. In case you can’t read between the lines (or maybe on the lines in this case), anytime a coach says that a player has, “several fractured bones,” in his foot, you can pretty much rule him out for the rest of the season. There’s all sorts of little nuanced coachspeak to be found in the NFL. If coach Mike Zimmer had referred to Cassel’s foot with the ambivalent term, “cracked,” then we might want to hold off on judgement. Even if he had stuck with the singular, “fracture,” we might think Cassel had a chance to come back this year. But, “several fractured bones?” Fuhgeddaboudit.
In my database going back to 2010, I only have two other quarterbacks with foot fractures, and neither of them had the multiple fractures of Cassel that are almost guaranteed to need surgical repair. 2010 was a glorious year for quarterback foot fractures, as both Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger not only suffered from them, but played through them without missing any games. Totally different injury though, as both of those were stress fractures that were more like flare-ups of preexisting conditions than new, acute injuries. In that sense, I’ve got to admit, I love this Cassel injury. Sorry bud, but it’s the rare and extreme injuries like this, especially to QBs that only make my database stronger and more complete. So, while I cannot yet prove it, methinks this is Teddy’s team now. Best of luck to you, Teddy, especially since you have nothing but shitty tools to work with.
While we wait to see how long Cassel is out, let’s open up a discussion. Is it too early to call Cassel a, “veteran journeyman quarterback?” If so, then what would it take? One more team? One more season? As a Pats fan, I’ll always think of him as that spunky kid who stepped in for Brady in 2008, but the truth is that he now has 10 seasons, 3 teams, and 32 years under his belt. Where is the line?
Update: September 24th, 9:50am: It wasn’t a tough call, and I wasn’t sticking my neck out too far, but I was still officially correct. Matt Cassel was placed on injured reserve this morning, ending his season.
