Do The Bears Have An Injury Management Problem?.............
Aug 24, 2016 14:11:09 GMT -6
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2016 14:11:09 GMT -6
From The Bears Wire;
By: Lorin Cox | 9 minutes ago
Injuries are an issue that every team faces every season, and often the teams with the best depth end up contending for a title. However, for the Chicago Bears, the way the team has handled injuries since Ryan Pace took over has been a problem.
It started with Kevin White, Pace’s first draft pick as general manager. The dynamic receiver made it through rookie minicamp last year before suffering a stress fracture in his left shin at OTAs. John Fox said at the time that White was “day-to-day” and that he expected the rookie to be ready for training camp.
Then the team reported to Bourbonnais, Illinois, and White was on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Even then, Fox said it was “not a long-term problem.” As training camp went on, White tried some light running, and for a little while, there was hope he would be ready to go.
A few weeks into camp, White tweaked the shin during his rehabilitation, and soon thereafter he was having a rod inserted into his tibia. His rookie season was over before it started.
Fox conceded on CBS Radio that “It was probably due to over-training for the combine, a lot of the things you do.” So it wasn’t an injury that White suffered pre-draft, but it was something that built up over time and took months to identify and permanently remedy.
After White had his surgery and a clear path to recovery, it was easy enough to call it a fluke. It was a tough situation to figure out, and while we don’t know all the details, it was a learning opportunity for this regime.
Now a year later, it’s not so clear whether the Bears learned anything.
It started again in February, with a seemingly routine arthroscopic knee surgery for Pernell McPhee. His ailing knee limited him for much of the 2015 season, and the scope was supposed to clean things up and get him back to 100-percent.
The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs reported at the time that famed Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery, and that McPhee was expected to be ready to go when training camp came around.
Six months later, McPhee has yet to practice with the team, and no one is really sure if he’ll even be ready for week one. Ryan Pace did praise his prized free agent signing of 2015 for showing up to this year’s training camp at a lower weight, but all we’ve heard about his injury is that the team is being extra cautious.
It’s easy to see some similarities to the White situation, making it hard to be confident in McPhee’s recovery. That said, if he’s cleared for the season opener, this all becomes a non-story, but it is certainly another injury issue that is quietly haunting this regime.
Perhaps the most damning injury situation since White’s, though, is that of Kyle Fuller. Everything was seemingly fine for the cornerback this offseason and into training camp. He had his ups and downs at practices and in the first preseason game, but that had been the story of his career to this point.
Then the Bears headed to New England for their joint practices with the Patriots, and Fuller didn’t go with them, citing what Fox called “knee soreness.” Less than a week later, the former first-round pick underwent arthroscopic knee surgery, and there is no timetable for his return.
“He’s kind of had this nagging injury that we thought maybe he could play with, but as time went on, you could tell it was affecting his movement skills,” Pace told WGN Radio at the time. “So for us, last week, it was like, all right guys, let’s press pause, let’s take another look at this, and make sure we’re exploring all our options.”
The injury had been nagging Fuller since the spring, but it took until mid-August before the Bears decided to clean it up. Some players can play through some injuries, but this team should be better at evaluating the risk involved so they can avoid major surgeries less than a month before the season starts.
Not all arthroscopic knee surgeries are the same, but it raises red flags when McPhee has a scope and doesn’t see the field for over six months, but when Fuller goes under the knife, the team hopes he’ll be ready for their first game three weeks after the surgery.
It is especially concerning when all three of these injury snafus are lower-leg injuries: two knees and a shin/tibia. It was easier to look past the White situation and give the new regime the benefit of the doubt, but another offseason of the same story raises some serious question marks about how this staff handles injuries.
Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me three times? We’ll see how it plays out once the regular season comes around.
By: Lorin Cox | 9 minutes ago
Injuries are an issue that every team faces every season, and often the teams with the best depth end up contending for a title. However, for the Chicago Bears, the way the team has handled injuries since Ryan Pace took over has been a problem.
It started with Kevin White, Pace’s first draft pick as general manager. The dynamic receiver made it through rookie minicamp last year before suffering a stress fracture in his left shin at OTAs. John Fox said at the time that White was “day-to-day” and that he expected the rookie to be ready for training camp.
Then the team reported to Bourbonnais, Illinois, and White was on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Even then, Fox said it was “not a long-term problem.” As training camp went on, White tried some light running, and for a little while, there was hope he would be ready to go.
A few weeks into camp, White tweaked the shin during his rehabilitation, and soon thereafter he was having a rod inserted into his tibia. His rookie season was over before it started.
Fox conceded on CBS Radio that “It was probably due to over-training for the combine, a lot of the things you do.” So it wasn’t an injury that White suffered pre-draft, but it was something that built up over time and took months to identify and permanently remedy.
After White had his surgery and a clear path to recovery, it was easy enough to call it a fluke. It was a tough situation to figure out, and while we don’t know all the details, it was a learning opportunity for this regime.
Now a year later, it’s not so clear whether the Bears learned anything.
It started again in February, with a seemingly routine arthroscopic knee surgery for Pernell McPhee. His ailing knee limited him for much of the 2015 season, and the scope was supposed to clean things up and get him back to 100-percent.
The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs reported at the time that famed Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery, and that McPhee was expected to be ready to go when training camp came around.
Six months later, McPhee has yet to practice with the team, and no one is really sure if he’ll even be ready for week one. Ryan Pace did praise his prized free agent signing of 2015 for showing up to this year’s training camp at a lower weight, but all we’ve heard about his injury is that the team is being extra cautious.
It’s easy to see some similarities to the White situation, making it hard to be confident in McPhee’s recovery. That said, if he’s cleared for the season opener, this all becomes a non-story, but it is certainly another injury issue that is quietly haunting this regime.
Perhaps the most damning injury situation since White’s, though, is that of Kyle Fuller. Everything was seemingly fine for the cornerback this offseason and into training camp. He had his ups and downs at practices and in the first preseason game, but that had been the story of his career to this point.
Then the Bears headed to New England for their joint practices with the Patriots, and Fuller didn’t go with them, citing what Fox called “knee soreness.” Less than a week later, the former first-round pick underwent arthroscopic knee surgery, and there is no timetable for his return.
“He’s kind of had this nagging injury that we thought maybe he could play with, but as time went on, you could tell it was affecting his movement skills,” Pace told WGN Radio at the time. “So for us, last week, it was like, all right guys, let’s press pause, let’s take another look at this, and make sure we’re exploring all our options.”
The injury had been nagging Fuller since the spring, but it took until mid-August before the Bears decided to clean it up. Some players can play through some injuries, but this team should be better at evaluating the risk involved so they can avoid major surgeries less than a month before the season starts.
Not all arthroscopic knee surgeries are the same, but it raises red flags when McPhee has a scope and doesn’t see the field for over six months, but when Fuller goes under the knife, the team hopes he’ll be ready for their first game three weeks after the surgery.
It is especially concerning when all three of these injury snafus are lower-leg injuries: two knees and a shin/tibia. It was easier to look past the White situation and give the new regime the benefit of the doubt, but another offseason of the same story raises some serious question marks about how this staff handles injuries.
Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me three times? We’ll see how it plays out once the regular season comes around.
