Any and all Seattle fans had to have been terrified yesterday when Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman injured his elbow in the win over Green Bay. Well, you can relax. From everything I read and see in my own database, this is no big deal. He’ll be fine… or at least mostly fine.
Throughout Monday, we had a few different reports trickling in to give us more details on Sherman’s exact injury. First it was mostly reported as a hyperextended elbow. Later, after MRI results came back, it was fine-tuned to a sprained elbow. Some sources called it a strained elbow, but we can sort of dismiss that one, as a sprain is both more widely reported and more likely, as there aren’t really any muscles within the elbow that could be strained (versus the many ligaments in there that could be sprained). Along with this diagnosis of elbow sprain, most sources report that Richard Sherman will absolutely play on Super Bowl Sunday.
If you read me at all, you know I love to blast that sort of optimism. Every player seems to think he can play through every injury, and every reporter loves to believe him. Well, I’ve got pretty much nothing to say here about Richard Sherman that would change what you’re hearing everywhere else. He’ll most likely play. As usual, I have a handful of historical comps I’ll throw out here just to give us an idea of how players have recovered in the past, but I’ll admit it’s not the best injury for comparison. Typically, mild elbow injuries such as sprains are simply reported as, “elbow injuries,” and teams never discuss the specifics such as whether or not it is a sprain. So for historical comps, I’m actually going to turn to more severe elbow injuries than Richard Sherman has.
Remember how those early reports were that Sherman hyperextended his elbow? Turns out players play through that. WR Dexter McCluster played through an elbow hyperextension in 2012. RB Joe McKnight missed one game in in 2011 with the same injury, but he was buried in the depth chart and it was reported that he could’ve played had he been needed to. Also, I should note that elbow hyperextension and sprain are not mutually exclusive. It is often the mechanism of hyperextension which causes the sprain (a sprain being ligament damage ranging anywhere from mild to severe).
Perhaps you saw that there was some early concern that Sherman had serious ligament and possibly even nerve damage. Players play through that too, though it depends on the severity. In 2011, DB Michael Griffin tore multiple ligaments in his elbow and missed only the following bye week. In 2010, DT Brodrick Bunkley suffered both nerve and ligament damage in his elbow. He missed three weeks, but I should note that Bunkley’s was a much more severe injury than Sherman’s. Also, Bunkley’s position requires greater elbow stability and strength than Sherman’s. WR Reggie Wayne suffered some sort of elbow ligament damage this season, and it only resulted in him missing one game.
Waaaay too much blabbing there on my part, but what I’m saying is that more severe elbow injuries than Sherman’s have resulted in little or no time missed. I see no reason, based on historical comps, that Sherman wouldn’t play in the biggest game of the year. There is the question of whether he’ll be at 100% health and how this could affect his performance, but that’s a much more difficult question to answer. There’s a chance he might not be able to push receivers off their mark at the line quite as well. There’s also a chance that he might not have all of his grip strength and that it could affect his chances of coming up with interceptions. But the obvious truth is that Richard Sherman, even if he were operating at less than 100%, will still be a huge threat to the Patriots, and it would be foolish to think otherwise.
