AIL MARY EXHIBITION GRIND HURTS MARQUEE NAMES, LEAVING NFL TEAMS PRAYING FOR HEALTH.Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer The Summer of Love it isn't. To the NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga , it's more like the Summer of Pain, Misery and Despair. The start of the regular season is eight days away and already the injuries around the league appear to be piling up like linemen on a 4th-and-inches play. Each of the past two weekends, one of the league's best young quarterbacks - and most marketable players - have gone down with injuries. First, the Atlanta Falcons' Michael Vick This article is about a person involved in a . Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a National Football League (NFL) quarterback under suspension from play from his Atlanta Falcons team contract and broke his leg two weeks ago, an injury that is expected to sideline him for six weeks. Then the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Jets' Chad Pennington James Chadwick "Chad" Pennington [1](born June 26, 1976 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American football quarterback for the NFL's New York Jets. Pennington is a graduate of the Webb School of Knoxville. Later, he was a Rhodes Scholar finalist as he held a GPA of 2. broke and dislocated dis·lo·cate tr.v. dis·lo·cat·ed, dis·lo·cat·ing, dis·lo·cates 1. To put out of usual or proper place, position, or relationship. 2. his wrist this past weekend, which should keep him out at least 12 weeks. Their injuries, though, are only the most attention grabbing. Around the NFL, there is a growing list of prominent players who have suffered serious injuries before playing a meaningful down this season. Arizona defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch Kyle Dale Vanden Bosch (born November 17, 1978) is a National Football League defensive end for the Tennessee Titans. He joined the Titans for in 2005 following four injury-plagued seasons with the Arizona Cardinals to start his career. , arguably the Cardinals' best player, is out for the season with torn knee ligaments, as is Washington defensive tackle Brandon Noble Brandon Patrick Noble (born April 10,1974 in San Rafael, California) is a football coach and former National Football League player. He is considered one of NFL Europe's great success stories. Noble was hired as the linebackers coach at West Chester University in 2006. . San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden tight end Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson (born August 17, 1954) is a guitarist and recording artist from Austin, Texas. is out 10 to 12 weeks with a broken collarbone col·lar·bone n. See clavicle. . The Philadelphia Eagles A pair of Pro Bowlers, Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey (broken rib) and Packers guard Marco Rivera (knee sprain sprain, stretching or wrenching of the ligaments and tendons of a joint, often with rupture of the tissues but without dislocation. Sprains occur most commonly at the ankle, knee, or wrist joints, causing pain, swelling, and difficulty in moving the involved joint. ), are expected to return for the season opener. All the injuries, particularly the ones to Vick and Pennington, have raised the question of whether the NFL's exhibition season (which lasts four and in some cases five games) is too long. Tampa Bay general manager Rich McKay, the co-chairman of the NFL's Competition Committee, told the Washington Post this week he expects the issue to be re-examined after the season. ``It's an issue that's been raised numerous times in the past,'' McKay said. ``The last time we discussed it was four years ago, and a survey I sent around to the coaches was firmly in favor of four (exhibition-season games). Will it be talked about again? It will depend on whether coaches and the owners want us to talk about it. But these issues do get revisited.'' At the heart of the matter is just how much time do players, and the coaches who evaluate them, need to get ready for the season? And where is the point of diminishing returns? ``When you play four preseason games and you practice for five or six weeks, that is going to happen,'' 49ers coach Dennis Erickson said Sunday, the day after losing his tight end for most of the season. ``You're going to have those injuries and there is nothing that any of us can do about it.'' Would he advocate a shorter exhibition season? ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. ,'' Erickson said. ``I think that I would have to look at it for a year and see. I don't know if it's the preseason games as much as it is how long we are out there.'' While the NFL's exhibition season is four games and starters often don't play more than a half, if at all, its length is 25 percent of the regular season - a larger percentage than either baseball, basketball or hockey. College and high school football, which face the same problem of organizing 11 players to be in the right place at the right time, have no exhibition games. USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. coach Pete Carroll, the former Patriots and Jets coach, says he misses the safety net of the exhibition season. While some colleges set up their schedule so the first game serves the same purpose as an exhibition game, eighth-ranked USC starts its season Saturday at No. 6 Auburn with an untested quarterback, sophomore Matt Leinart, who might be helped by a noncounting game. ``I'm uncomfortable with not having preseason games now,'' Carroll said. ``I like knowing things before the season began, but in truth, you still had doubts for the first game. Whether necessary or not, it's equal. If you didn't have them, like in college, then that would be equal, too. ``I personally liked the preseason, but I know a lot of people dreaded it. I know why the players don't like it.'' Sylmar High coach Jeff Engilman finds himself straddling strad·dle v. strad·dled, strad·dling, strad·dles v.tr. 1. a. To stand or sit with a leg on each side of; bestride: straddle a horse. b. the same line as NFL coaches. He wants his players hitting enough to prepare them for the first game but not enough to risk getting them hurt. ``I made the mistake in 1992 when we played (Southern Section champ) Bishop Amat that I thought, (heck), we won the (L.A.) City (Section) championship the week before and so we just went shoulder pads and shorts all week,'' Engilman said. ``I don't think we were prepared. That same year, the Cowboys won the Super Bowl and Jimmy Johnson believed in scrimmaging. ``From now on, we'll hit from day one. I only have 34 ballplayers, and today my best receiver hits his crazy bone on a helmet, he can't feel his fingers and he's out the rest of the day. It's just a chance I have to take. I can't wait until the game to see if a kid can play.'' Training camp, if aptly named years ago, is a misnomer misnomer n. the wrong name. MISNOMER. The act of using a wrong name. 2. Misnomers, may be considered with regard to contracts, to devises and bequests, and to suits or actions. 3.-1. these days. With strength coaches, personal trainers and offseason mini-camps, many players arrive at camp in top shape - physically and mentally. Chargers punter Darren Bennett formerly played Australian Rules Football Australian rules football Variety of football played between two teams of 18 players. The field is oval, 145–200 yd (135–185 m) long, with four goalposts at each end. A six-point goal is scored when the oval ball is kicked through the two central goalposts. . There, he says, the typical training camp is now a week to 10 days. ``We'd just go somewhere and they'd flog you for three days,'' Bennett said. ``It was more of a bonding thing. You take a veteran guy like Doug Flutie, he could be ready to play in three days.'' When Jon Arnett, the No. 1 pick in the 1957 draft, came to the Rams he was paid $15,000 - a figure that so miffed miff n. 1. A petulant, bad-tempered mood; a huff. 2. A petty quarrel or argument; a tiff. tr.v. miffed, miff·ing, miffs To cause to become offended or annoyed. starting quarterback Norm Van Brocklin Norman Mack "Norm" Van Brocklin (March 15, 1926 – May 2, 1983), also known as The Dutchman, was an American football player and coach. He was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. He was born in Eagle Butte, South Dakota to Mack and Ethel Van Brocklin. that Arnett says he rarely threw to him that season. From January through June of each year, most players worked a job rather than worked out. During his 10-year career with the Rams and Bears, Arnett worked in the offseason as a stockbroker. ``We didn't train as hard in the offseason, no question about it,'' said Arnett, whose teams often played six exhibition games. ``I ran cause I loved to run and I realized training camp is easier when you're in shape, but I know a lot of guys who never worked out in between seasons. It's a year-round game now, but you're getting paid a million. When you're getting $25,000 a year, you had to work.'' If money mattered then, it certainly matters now. Exhibition games always have been a boon financially, even back in the days when Arnett remembers playing in front of 90,000 at the Coliseum. The NFL estimates the exhibition season generates $350 million, nearly 14 percent of the league's annual gross revenues, according to spokesman Greg Aiello. That works out to roughly $11 million a team. Part of that revenue comes from season-ticket holders, who are required to purchase tickets to two exhibition games as part of every team's season-ticket package. The last time a change in the schedule took place was in 1978, when league the increased its regular-season schedule from 14 to 16 games and reduced its exhibition schedule from six to four. Asked whether the total number of games might change, Aiello said: ``I don't know. It hasn't been seriously addressed since (1978). No one is seriously looking at it at this time of year.'' Staff Writer Scott Wolf contributed to this report. Billy Witz, (818) 713-3621 bill.witz(at)dailynews.com INJURY CENTRAL The NFL is trying to cope with a rash of injuries this exhibition season. A look at some of the most notable players who will miss at least the season opener: Player, Pos., TeamInjury Marcus Bell, DT, Arizona Knee sprain Michael Vick, QB, Atlanta Broken leg Michael Bennett, RB, Minnesota Foot Jeremy Shockey, TE, N.Y. Giants Broken rib Chad Pennington, QB, N.Y. Jets Broken wrist James Thrash, WR, Philadelphia Head/neck Kim Herring, S, St. Louis Broken arm Jason Sehorn, S, St. Louis Broken foot Aeneas Williams, S, St. Louis Leg/ankle CAPTION(S): 4 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick suffered a broken leg two weeks ago, leaving the exciting young star out until at least October. John Amis/Associated Press (2 -- color) VICK (3 -- color) PENNINGTON (4) New York Jets Bill Kostroun/Associated Press Box: INJURY CENTRAL (see text) |
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