Injuries -- What is GB Doing Wrong?

[Noodle]

Following some of the references to Chip Kelly in other threads led me to this discussion in Football Outsiders about injuries and how well Philly has done avoiding them:

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/sta...ted-games-lost

The injury metric also shows how poorly GB has done in avoiding injuries, finishing 32nd in 2012 and 30th in 2013. Consistent suckness at this level isn't just blind bad luck. As Lombardi would say:

[red]

if you can figure out why we are always injured, then you win the grand prize of the internet. we've had all kinds of arguments over why we have so many injuries

some like myself think that our training staff is completely incompetent, others will say "but they win awards, they can't be that bad"

another train of thought is that our staff is more overly cautious compared to other teams. this would be great for players, but leaves us at a great disadvantage to a team that isn't so cautious.

some think its the way we practice, or TT is just picking injury prone players

others think its just plain ole bad luck, which i think is a complete crock of shit. theres a reason we are always one of if not the most injured team in the NFL, and luck has nothing to do with it

[texaspackerbacker]

I disagree. Until proven conclusively otherwise, I'll go with LUCK as the primary factor. Has anybody come up with a better idea? Do you really think if it was anything other than LUCK, the Packers or any team would not take immediate steps to fix it?

[Tony Oday]

Colt is out now too.

[Pugger]

Outside of a handful of players who most likely would NOT be starting we haven't been hit by anything major yet - *knock on wood*. Maybe this will be like 2011 when we were relatively healthy.

[bobblehead]

Outside of a handful of players who most likely would NOT be starting we haven't been hit by anything major yet - *knock on wood*. Maybe this will be like 2011 when we were relatively healthy.

It will be epic if we stay healthy. I am of the theory that if you don't practice hard contact you aren't ready for it. I might have stated that once or twice before. Oh, and I think Worthy gets cut and Sherrod starts at LT over Bak soon. Ok, so we didn't technically cut worthy, but I'm claiming credit.

[BZnDallas]

It will be epic if we stay healthy. I am of the theory that if you don't practice hard contact you aren't ready for it. I might have stated that once or twice before. Oh, and I think Worthy gets cut and Sherrod starts at LT over Bak soon. Ok, so we didn't technically cut worthy, but I'm claiming credit.

If Sherrod did happen to improve enough to over take Bak for the LT spot, would Bak turn into Barcaly II? Is he able to play G and T?

[Noodle]

I freely admit I don't have the answer. But when you see teams like Philly consistently not sucking on the injury front, and our Pack consistently sucking same, it makes you think.

Is it the draft -- the Pack drafts injury prone players? Is it training -- the Pack doesn't know how to train in a way that reduces injury?

I am perplexed, and I'd like to see reporters press MM and TT for their thoughts on the injury front.

[sharpe1027]

Is there any data to suggest that training staffs have more than a marginal effect on injuries? I doubt other teams do much different. Luck seems like the most likely cause of most statistical differences between teams. Correlation is not causation.

[pbmax]

I freely admit I don't have the answer. But when you see teams like Philly consistently not sucking on the injury front, and our Pack consistently sucking same, it makes you think.

Is it the draft -- the Pack drafts injury prone players? Is it training -- the Pack doesn't know how to train in a way that reduces injury?

I am perplexed, and I'd like to see reporters press MM and TT for their thoughts on the injury front.

Its only one year, so the sample size is very small. But as I pointed out in the Training Camp thread, M3 is doing a lot of the things smartfootball is crediting Kelly for bringing into the NFL.

[Patler]

This has gone on too long to be coincidence. I blame a combination of the approach of the strength and conditioning staff, and MM's practices. TT has drafted a few players with injury histories, but everyone does because a lot of college players are injured. GB has had significant time lost by players who played virtually every game in college.

Is the medical staff conservative? Perhaps, but we have also seen player return only to reinjure themselves and miss more time.

Something is missing from the physical preparation of the players.

[Patler]

There was an article at the end of the season that said GB has been among the most injured teams 4 of the last 5 years. That goes beyond coincidence, I think. I think they have to look for a cause.

[Joemailman]

From 2010-2013, 2011 is the one season the Packers didn't have a ton of injuries. This was also the year where there was no offseason training program because of the lockout that followed the 2010 season. Makes me wonder if the offseason training program has been the problem.

[Cheesehead Craig]

From 2010-2013, 2011 is the one season the Packers didn't have a ton of injuries. This was also the year where there was no offseason training program because of the lockout that followed the 2010 season. Makes me wonder if the offseason training program has been the problem.

It's stuff like that that makes it hard to believe that it's not the training staff that is the root cause.

[VegasPackFan]

I may be way off here but I thought I remember hearing that the Seahags don't do much contact at all in practice? They are obviously a very physical team, so I wonder if it's just the lack of wear and tear that helps them be physical and avoid injuries.