Fellow SBNation blogger, Phinatic, who heads the Miami Dolphins blog, posted an injury update that had me thinking. He said that Dolphins head coach, Nick Saban "wouldn't discuss injuries in-depth because he claimed it would hurt the team's competitive advantage." That had me thinking; are injury reports pretty much irrelevant? And I’m not discussing the internal order of the NFL. I’m talking about the information being relayed to you. Does it matter? Are we buying into a very over-rated bit of information the coaches use to throw off their weekly opponents?
I post injury updates following practices on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. A lot of the time we get guys that are questionable (defined as 50% likely to play), that end up inactive. And honestly, there’s no point in having a "probable" classification (75% likely to play) because they play 99% of the time.
On the other hand, you find out that your opponent has their starting running back and tight end on the injury list, it’s encouraging. Both Reuben Droughns and Kellen Winslow Jr. are listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. I know what you’re asking. If Winslow was really a solider, he’d obviously play through these injuries like our boys in conflict zones. Something tells me Winslow is nothing more an over-paid, over-rated baby clown that jumps at the chance of finding the easiest route; nothing close to a true solider. What’s the definition of tangent again?
So I ask you, the reader, are injury reports a little irrelevant?
Say good bye to Naufahu Tahi. Tahi made his impression against the Colts in the final pre-season game this year. On 11 carries, the natural fullback rushed for 54 yards. On Wednesday, the Vikings placed fullback Tony Richardson on injured reserve and signed Tahi to their 53-man roster. The move created an opening for the Bengals to sign center Adam Johnson to the practice squad.
Adam Johnson is being classified as a long snapper on Bengals.com. Johnson signed with Carolina in 2004 as an undrafted free agent. Adam is the nephew of the legendary Bengals center, Bob Johnson.
Droughns and Winslow questionable for Sunday [SacBee.com]
Bengals add player to practice squad [Macon.com]
Adam Johnson Bio [Bengals.com]