Anyone out there waiting on news of New Orleans TE Jimmy Graham’s shoulder? The good news is that I have information for you. The bad news is that I’m pretty much just guessing. But I think it’s a good, educated guess, so I’ll share it here. AC sprain, and he’ll play in full after the New Orleans week 6 bye. He might be a little limited, but he’ll still be Jimmy Graham, so don’t sweat it.
After following NFL injuries for a while, I find myself really irritated when reporters are unwilling to speculate a little bit. Depending on the team/coach/player/injury, real tangible injury information might not be available for days, maybe even weeks. Or maybe ever, as is the case with Bill Belichick and my beloved Pats. In a perfect world, Belichick’s final injury report, his own (eventual) death certificate, will be ridiculously vague. Were he to die of a heart attack, it should read, “cause of death: torso.” Anyway, during these injury information black-outs, I don’t think it’s irresponsible to do a little guesswork… again, as long as you’re up front about it.
Graham’s injury has some easy clues for an injury sleuth like myself. Graham took a huge hit to his left shoulder. He sat out for a while, came back in, and then left for the sidelines again. In the postgame press conference, New Orleans head coach Sean Payton talked about Graham’s injury in an odd way, referencing how the injury affected Graham’s ability to play at, “full speed.” Those are all signs that point towards an AC sprain. In football, AC sprains are usually caused by a huge hit to the shoulder. Players can often play through AC sprains, and it is usually fairly safe to insert them back into the lineup to let them test the shoulder out. Notice that coach Payton said nothing about structural issues or extensive tests or even much concern. That indicates that this is a matter of, “pain only,” and that it can be managed, not something more serious like a dislocation or rotator cuff injury, which would both require surgery. It all screams classic AC sprain to me, and I don’t think it’s wrong to call it that until proven otherwise. This could also be something as minor as a shoulder bruise, but the dots don’t connect quite so well, so I’m sticking with AC sprain.
Let’s say that I’m right… what then? Not much. NFL players routinely play through AC sprains. Take a look at TE Jordan Cameron this year. He’s missed one preseason game and one regular season game while he plays through the injury. WR DeSean Jackson has yet to miss a game this year playing through the same injury. I can dig into my database and find enough examples of people playing through AC sprains that this one doesn’t worry me so much. For the most part, it is a pretty simple injury that will heal on its own with proper rest and management. Yeah, a few people really get knocked on their ass by it, but, in my database, those are mostly quarterbacks who rely on the shoulder muscles for precise throwing mechanics. And even then, a decent amount of QBs even play through the injury. One notable exception might be Detroit QB Matthew Stafford in 2010 when his season was tanked by this injury, but for once I’ll chose not to focus on the most extreme case.
Also, if you believe in the myth of a, “quick healer,” Jimmy Graham is awesome at that. I don’t believe in that poop. But I do believe that some players, whether by nature, training, ability, position, scheme, surrounding cast, whatever, might be more effective while playing through pain. In that sense, Graham is an absolute beast. He played through a very painful plantar fascia injury, which is often described as having, “sharp stabbing pains in the bottom of the foot.” Yeah, no thanks… I’m calling in sick because I just imagined what that feels like. He’s also come back pretty early from a (most likely) high ankle sprain, a finger dislocation, and some sort of vague wrist injury. This is not a guy who spends game day in the tub, folks. Best of all, Graham has a week 6 bye to rehab a bit without having to rush right back and prove himself as the iron man that we all expect.
This is where I love having this crackpot blog. It’s now almost 11am EST, Monday morning, and I get to see how many hours of lead time I scooped everyone else by. Or if I was just entirely wrong. That happened once.
