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By Konrad Gonzalez, Staff Reporter
Is there a reason why so many injuries are happening during the NFL 2020 season? After just five weeks of play, the league saw many star players suffer season-ending injuries. One of the biggest names being New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley who suffered an ACL tear during a week 2 match-up against the Chicago Bears.
Many teams are suffering from an injury bug and there are a couple theories.
First is the fields.
The San Francisco 49ers played back-to-back games at MetLife Stadium -- home to the Giants and New York Jets -- where many injuries happened to their roster including defensive linemen Nick Bosa and Soloman Thomas, tight end Jordan Reed, running back Raheem Mostert, and starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
“I know that’s as many knee injuries and ankle stuff and people getting caught on the turf that I’ve ever been a part of,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Following San Francisco’s 31-13 victory over the Jets, many of the players were open critics of the turf conditions and voiced their frustrations by asking for the league to fix these problems.
“@nfl fix this trash met life turf,” 49ers defensive end Arik Armstead said on Twitter. “2020 is so wack.”
However, the conditions of the fields might not be the only reason for so many injuries.
The NFL decided to skip the entire preseason this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many fans and teams didn’t agree with this decision and the number of injuries this season alone has shown why.
Throwing players straight into a season with full contact and no reps or preseason games to get them into football shape hasn’t helped.
The preseason is meant for rookies and players to get reps in before playing a full game of hard hits and brutal physicality. Without the time needed to get players physically ready for the season, many teams are facing injuries that could affect their chances at the postseason.
Teams like the Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, and Seattle Seahawks have all been heavily affected by injuries. While not a lot was expected of the Giants, the 49ers were expected to have another amazing year but now their playoff dreams look gloomy.
One of the more eye-catching injury headlines this season involved Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Tyrod Taylor. Taylor’s lung was accidentally punctured by a team doctor while trying to administer a pain-killing injection to the cracked ribs he sustained during a week 1 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The injection that Taylor received is not uncommon, but still has a risk because a doctor injects without any visual of where the needle is going. Regardless, it is rare that a player suffers a punctured lung from the injection, especially right before a game.
The NFL Players Association has started an investigation into the medical incident.
Overall, COVID-19 has had a big impact on how the season is being handled. While some team’s fields were not ready for the season, the lack of preseason games likely was the cause of the many soft tissue injuries seen throughout the first six weeks.
Players are still getting their bodies used to the hits and long games of the season prompting the NFL to consider bringing back the preseason schedule for 2021.
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