Sports

[gardenman]

I expect Tua to miss 4-6 weeks and possibly 6-8 weeks following that concussion, if the Dolphins are sane. (A big if.) Recurrent concussions four or five days apart need extra time over a "regular" concussion. Yeah, I know they say he didn't have a concussion and was cleared Sunday, but that was a concussion. Players know to cheat on their baseline, preseason testing, so they can still play while concussed. Since there's no blood test or easily verifiable way to determine if a player is concussed, many players will swear they're fine, even when they know they're not. And if they cheat on the baseline testing and don't go one hundred percent on it, the testing tells you nothing. Everyone has to trust the player to be honest with them and players lie.

Anyone watching Tua last week had to think he was concussed. Was he still functional? Yes, but at a much higher risk of additional injury. A risk that bit him last night. Now the Dolphins have to pretty much ignore whatever Tua says and trust the experts over Tua.

Bill Parcells used to test his players who'd had a rib injury and swore they were ready to play by sneaking up behind them, bear hugging them and lifting them off their feet. If they didn't scream and grab their ribcage or show outward signs of pain, he'd let them play, but in most cases they did and he kept them benched. He knew he couldn't trust his players to tell him the truth.

A more veteran coach in a more stable situation likely would have kept Tua on the bench after his injury last week and may have not played him this week. A rookie head coach in a less than stable situation let him back into last week's game and had him playing this week. And here we are. The coach will insist the trainers and medical staff said it was safe. The trainers and medical staff will say he passed their tests. But he shouldn't have been out there.

[teganslaw]

Does the final decision about a player's health rest with the coach? Tua might have said he was fine and passed tests, but he should have been on the bench after last week.

Justin Herbert seems to be in a similar situation. He doesn't have concussion, but has other injuries. Yet he was on the field and took a further beating. He shouldn't have been out there, either. 

[Spurt]

@gardenman @teganslaw 

All of us Washington fans, those that are still left supporting this once proud franchise, are not happy at all the way this season has turned out.  Whether its Rivera's fault as the one who wanted total control or was it that he in turn, allowed GM Martin Mahew to be involved more in personnel decisions???? Their ultimate goal seemed to be to just "stand pat" and chose "cheap talent" to fill the holes. BUT that strategy  wasnt the right solution!!!! Maybe Rivera's battle with cancer changed priorities in his life.

Yes, Rivera has beautifully handled all the drama involving Snyder and changing the culture, but on the field is another matter.  And yes the Snyder scenario is an added pressure that most NFL coaches dont have to deal with! But as one Podcast said, Ron's plan merely changed the Commanders into the "Commanthers" as he brought in a plethora of players from is old team.....

All off-season, fans, media and even the coach himself shared thoughts about how to improve the linebacking corps. Local media, many of who claimed to have inside sources, made predictions of possible draft picks and free agents that would be brought in to help improve this unit that desperately needed help, but what did the team do? The team brought back Jon Bostic after he was released by the Saints! Fans were angry!!!!

Then there was the awful secondary-----they drafted a safety in the 4th round, a corner in the 7th, and re-signed Bobby McCain--- none of these players were an upgrade...

The O-line; they let pro-bowler Scherff walk, but even fans agreed that at his age he wanted too much money----but what was the solution-----yet another Panther ---Trai Turner who some fans described as a guy that looked like "he spent the off season stuffing his face,while he sat on his rear end playing video games"----SMH! Ereck Flowers had been playing decent, but they let him go and brought in yet another PANTHER--Andrew Norwell. They also let Tim Settle leave for a pitance.....

Some described Scott turner's offensive plans as "old school", and their best player, Terry McLaurin, seems to have been forgotten!!! On both offense and defense the coaches schemes failed to put players in their best possible positions. And yes, Rivera is right----players also need to be accountable and play their best and not make stupid mistakes and penalties!

Meanwhile back at the NFC EAST, the competition went out and got better and made serious upgrades---Washington made POOR DECISIONS regarding their roster which has them in LAST PLACE in the NFC East! And year after year they seem to be one of the leaders in the NFL in injuries----is it due to over-training, or perhaps the wrong type of training which is leading to all these injuries!!!!🤔

So now the question is---whether Snyder will give Rivera a chance to finish his 5 yr plan! Is Rivera and company ON THE HOT SEAT!!!!  Gee, even McCarthy has the Cowboys playing better!!!  Or wouldnt it be funny if Rivera and company got fired and Snyder irritated the Cowboy's by grabbing Jerry Jone's "dream coach" Sean Payton --- can you imagine Jerry's reaction---how many years has Jerry drooled over the thought of Sean running his team.  But Washington is going to need more than a new coach---serious player upgrades are also needed!!! STAY TUNED!!!

@gardenman 

What say you?

[gardenman]

---

@teganslaw wrote:

Does the final decision about a player's health rest with the coach? Tua might have said he was fine and passed tests, but he should have been on the bench after last week.

Justin Herbert seems to be in a similar situation. He doesn't have concussion, but has other injuries. Yet he was on the field and took a further beating. He shouldn't have been out there, either. 

---

It depends. If you're Andy Reid, a veteran coach who has earned the respect of the locker room and players, then the coach has final say. If Andy Reid says Mahomes has to sit, everyone will go along with it regardless of what the medical staff says. If you're a new coach, you have much less credit built up with the team and front office. A first-year coach saying the star QB has to sit out the game might just get overruled by the GM and owner. Even the medical staff.

Guys like Parcells in his prime, Andy, and guys with a lot of experience can make the call and stick with it. New guys, have a harder time making the tough calls.

[Spurt]

---

@gardenman wrote:

---

@teganslaw wrote:

Does the final decision about a player's health rest with the coach? Tua might have said he was fine and passed tests, but he should have been on the bench after last week.

Justin Herbert seems to be in a similar situation. He doesn't have concussion, but has other injuries. Yet he was on the field and took a further beating. He shouldn't have been out there, either. 

---

It depends. If you're Andy Reid, a veteran coach who has earned the respect of the locker room and players, then the coach has final say. If Andy Reid says Mahomes has to sit, everyone will go along with it regardless of what the medical staff says. If you're a new coach, you have much less credit built up with the team and front office. A first-year coach saying the star QB has to sit out the game might just get overruled by the GM and owner. Even the medical staff.

Guys like Parcells in his prime, Andy, and guys with a lot of experience can make the call and stick with it. New guys, have a harder time making the tough calls.

---

@gardenman @teganslaw 

Sometimes someone has to step up and save a player from himself....The NFLPA says they are also looking into the Tua situation and his coming back in Week 3's game...

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

It gets frustrating when your team is standing around twiddling their thumbs while other teams make bold moves to get better. The Eagles made the bold moves this year and it feels a lot better than being in the other position.

Trading up to draft Jordan Davis, then stealing AJ Brown from the Titans. Getting Hasson Reddick in free agency. Getting good young kids who can step in and play through the draft. Then not quitting and adding guys like Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and James Bradberry later in training camp. Then adding RB Trey Sermon (who will likely be active and play this week with Boston Scott dinged) when he became available. 

Too many teams look at the bottom line and forget about winning. They have their budget and forget the rest. This year the Eagles went all in on winning and it shows. So far anyway.

Fanbases are smarter than they've been in the past. Most fanbases know where the holes are on their team's rosters, and they expect to see those holes filled. Now, sometimes a team will get the wrong guy, but at least they get a guy and tried. It's when a team does nothing that fans go a bit crazy. 

In the NFC, the Eagles and Rams seem all in on winning this year. They found guys to fill the holes they had. The Commanders found a QB, but their defense and o-line issues persist. Fixing the o-line is challenging. (The Eagles have had three o-linemen poached off our practice squad which gives you some idea of how much depth we had there.) 

You want to see your team looking everywhere for an upgrade. Steal guys off another team's practice squad. Grab guys off the waiver wire. Make a trade or two if it helps your roster. Just do something. It's that not doing anything that drives you a bit crazy.

[abbalulu]

Brady's the technician while Mahomes is the magician.

@gardenman  Love this sentence! You can tell that you are an author. You make reading the matchups interesting.

Thanks for choosing The Bears. From your lips to God's ears-knock wood too.

[soonersis]

Micah Parsons said yesterday he now feels 100% so that's good news for Cowboys Nation but not so much for the Washington fans and @Spurt.  But this is the NFL so anything can happen.

I saw what happened to Tua last night and it was truly frightening.  I hope and pray he'll be all right.

[Spurt]

I thought this was very nice---

Bills fans have spearheaded an effort to donate to Tua's foundation after his scary injury on Thursday night.

The #BillsMafia began urging pledges to the Tua Foundation, which supports health and wellness of young people. In less than 24 hours, the Tua Foundation received more than 1,000 donations. 

Bills fans have a long history of donating to the charitable foundations of players on opposing teams, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process. Among the past donation drives were gifts to Lamar Jackson’s foundation after he suffered a concussion in a playoff loss to the Bills, and gifts to Andy Dalton‘s foundation after he threw a touchdown pass that put the Bills into the playoffs.

[gardenman]

The Bills fans are among the best in the league. A bit crazy at times, but big-hearted and good-natured.

The Eagles will be down a starter in slot corner Avonte Maddox who rolled his ankle in practice on Thursday, and backup running back Boston Scott who has sore ribs. We'll have to see who fills in for Maddox, but Scott's injury opens the door for RB Trey Sermon to get some snaps.

Tomorrow will be a long, long day of football watching with games starting at 9:30 AM ET and going on to after eleven at night.