With the Detroit Lions taking a day off to enjoy their 2-1 record and a mostly healthy roster, it’s a good time to cover a wide range of topics involving players like Joey Porter Jr., Myles Garrett, Tyrell Crosby, and Giovanni Manu. I present today’s NFL Medical Mailbag…
Hidden Health Risk with Trading for Players
There has been a lot of talk lately about trading for Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr. to aid the struggling Lions secondary. While the idea of adding a good player to make a Super Bowl run is enticing, the recent outcomes of blockbuster trades involving Micah Parsons, Sauce Gardner, and now Myles Garrett should give Lions fans some serious pause.
Recent developments with Garrett highlight how there can be hidden health risks when trading for players…
Garrett had arthroscopic knee surgery after just his first game with the Rams and is on IR with a reported 6-week timeline. This is likely a “clean-up” surgery, which usually means cartilage damage and thus a potential long-term, chronic problem.
Did Garrett’s former team, the Browns, have some hint that there might be an incipient issue with Garrett’s knee? The team certainly will never admit that publicly, but it’s possible.
One of the unspoken risks of trading for another player is the real possibility that the player’s current team knows more about the player’s health than you do. While all of a player’s imaging, procedures, and other health data are collected in an open file that is available to all teams, there are nuances in medicine that won’t necessarily show up in a patient’s chart.
We saw something like this earlier when the Ravens nixed the Maxx Crosby trade due to a previously unknown finding…
If you’re trading a late-round pick for someone, the risk is minimal. However, if you’re talking about 1st-round picks (plus a big-money extension), then this unknown health risk needs to be a major consideration.
While I have assumed that Porter’s back injury is totally contract-related, I can’t say that for sure. When it comes to any back issue, there is concern for the spine, which can be a chronic, recurrent problem. The Lions would need to fully investigate whether there is truly a real back issue or not. Even if all the imaging is negative and Porter says he’s “fine”, the Steelers may know some information that the Lions do not.
On the topic of mystery back injuries…
The Lions and Mystery Back Injuries
In recent years, the Lions have seen Payton Turner, Isiah Pacheco, Josh Paschal, and Levi Onwuzurike go down with serious back issues - many of which remain mysterious.
Reader “K-Dawg” astutely pointed out another Lions mystery back issue from the past…
I had to go back and review what went down with Tyrell Crosby…
While Crosby’s account of his back management is concerning, it’s important to recognize that the medical staff is not allowed to give their perspective due to privacy laws and ethical considerations.
Doctors can treat thousands of patients a year. Every once in a while there will be misunderstandings or miscommunications - despite all efforts. Many times these misunderstandings don’t even become apparent to the doctor until after the fact.
With Crosby’s case, it’s really hard to imagine the Lions doctors would not MRI his back if he requested them to. Doctors don’t have to pay for the MRI themselves, and MRIs in the NFL are given out like candy on Halloween. There is likely more to the story here.
Giovanni Manu’s Mystery Injury
Speaking of mystery Lions injuries, I present Gio Manu, whose injured body part remains unknown.
Manu was placed on NFI (non football injury) at the start of camp with a possible RTP of November or December.
What’s really interesting here is that he was placed on NFI after already participating in a training camp practice. NFL rules state that a player must be placed on NFI (or PUP) prior to any camp practice. Why was an exception made? Because “He had a previous injury over the summer that was not disclosed”, as stated by Dan Campbell.
I delved more into the curiosity of Manu in this earlier story…
Concussions and CTE Concerns
Subscriber “Con” had some very insightful thoughts in response to my Jabari Small Concussion Concern story…
I agree with Con that we simply don’t know much about concussions or the brain in general yet, which contrasts sharply with how much the topic is discussed and reported on. When it comes to the knowledge of the brain in comparison to other organ systems, we are still in the Stone Age.
ACL vs Achilles Recoveries
A major difference between ACL vs Achilles is that the ACL is a ligament that connects bone to bone, while the Achilles is a tendon that connects bone to muscle. The ACL just needs to be strong and durable enough to connect point A to point B on the bones. The player’s muscles are not part of the equation here.
Contrast that with the Achilles which must stretch and move with a dynamic muscle. I think that difference is a big reason why the ACL has a much more reliable recovery than the Achilles.
For my previous Medical Mailbag…
Lions Mailbag: Kerby Joseph Absence, Injury Prevention, Rivalries Jersey Color Update
The Detroit Lions final preseason game against the Colts is tomorrow. Today is a day off for the team, which makes it a good time for reader comments & questions.