Finley......injury updates

Quote: "If any team is equipped to deal with it TT and the Packers are that team, but I wonder if at some point the league has to really consider expanding the rosters."

 

Why football -- IMO a much more injury-ridden sport -- does not have something similar to baseball's system for handling injuries -- has been a mystery to me. Expand the practice squads and have a part of that squad be protected from other teams' poaching. 

Packers TE Jermichael Finley in ICU after his neck injury. He has not had surgery as of early this a.m. and status uncertain. Monitoring.

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) October 21, 2013

I wondered too about Finley talking, but apparently, Quarless said Finley was telling him, "I can't move." linky  

If you watch one or two of the replays, you can kind of make that out after he comes to. Scary, scary, hit. Finley did lower his head but Gipson targeted his head, even if it was with a shoulder so I see him as in the majority of fault. Of course, I suppose he could have targeted Finley's legs and then we'd be dealing with another ACL.

At this juncture I'm guessing Finley is done for the year. This is some serious stuff.

It seems like the Packers have had an inordinate amount of shots from people that cause severe injuries. Merriweather from WAS comes to mind and now this.

#Packers TE Jermichael Finley spent the night at a hospital after suffering a neck injury. Source: "Precautionary. He's going to be fine"

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 21, 2013

At least with an ACL injury his response to how many fingers do you see wouldn't have been 11.

These head shots against us are beyond ridiculous.

You're right about that, Shoeless. At least with an ACL you don't have to worry as much about playing catch with your kid in the future.

The league just needs to be tougher. Two-game minimum on a head shot where the guy targets the head area; four-games if he's a three-peater like Merriweather.

****ing ruined my enjoyable afternoon.  I've watched plenty of people get lit up at Lambeau but I felt sick and sad after Finley's.  I hope he'll be OK and whatever he decides to do after getting healthy will be alright with me.  really ****ing sucks though.

he's a three-peater like Merriweather.

He did it again in the bare game. He just needs to be banned. 

He had two more helmet to helmet hits yesterday. His ass needs to be banned from the NFL before he paralyzes someone, possibly himself. 

Ditka and Paterno have both said there would be less head injuries if players played without helmets. I think a lot of d-backs see a helmet as a weapon, not a protective devise. It would be interesting...although I believe there were many deaths in the 'less protected' era. 

It does change the way I view a game and if I'm Finley, I find a new line of work.

Finley did lower his head... but he was going down and likely saw Gipson coming so why not duck to avoid the hit. Gipson shoulder, and then his helmet, made conact with Finley's helmet. Clean hit.

Some conflicting reports about Finley this morning.

There is this:

@RapSheet

Finley spent night at a hospital. Source: "Precautionary. He's going to be fine"

Then this:

@mortreport

Packers TE Jermichael Finley in ICU after neck injury. Has not had surgery as of early this a.m. Status uncertain.

Yep. That's what I noticed too. Really scary stuff.

1A) Finley's life after football.

I hope to God that's true Packerboi.

Do away with the helmets and pads ala rugby. There might be a couple of Kamikazes left, but the majority of players would alter their running and tackling methods without the “weapons”.

quote:

although I believe there were many deaths in the 'less protected' era.

Dream from heaven if true.  

I don't think Finley was spasming involuntarily and unconrollably.  I think he was moving anything an everything he could in a panicked attempt to see what he was still capable of moving.  You often see guys who have taken a blow to the head flexing their jaw around to see if it is broken or just get sensation from moving some muscles.  He was doing that and I think he was doing the same with the arm.  I also recall him shaking his head back and forth at first.  Best case scenario is that it was all just one really nasty stinger.  Didn't Driver have that happen toward the end of Farb's career here?  And he played the following week?

Nothing really new in this 9:00am update on JSO  --   Jermichael Finley spends night in hospital, no diagnosis yet

$$$$$$

Not sure what to make of Rapaport's tweet...it would seem to me ICU is far from merely being precautionary. Hope it's true though.

Merriweather does that against everyone. He is a head hunter at a time when it is unacceptable. He caught Marshall yesterday. The guy needs to be suspended for multiple games.

Meriweather got two flags for head shots yesterday - one to Marshall and the other to Jeffrey.

Marshall wants Meriweather out of the league

Other than the Lacy hit I have seen one other game this year where he went head hunting.
 

ESPN: Tests negative on Finley's neck, has regained movement, more tests coming.

That's a sobering story, Trail.  Thanks for sharing.

Hoping for the very best and that Jermichael won't have to deal with any long term effects from yesterdays injury.

It's going to be interesting to see where he's at if and when he's cleared to play. He was pretty shaken up after the concussion in Cincy. So was his son. It's not going to be easy for Jermichael to watch a replay of yesterday's play. That was really frightening.

No one knows how a player is going to bounce back from something like that but it may take him a while to become comfortable on a football field again, if ever. Just hope he's able to walk out of that hospital holding his son though.

Thanks for the story, Trail Runner. Football was my middle son's best sport. Ridiculous speed and explosive. Averaged something like 20 yards per carry in middle school in the short time he played. I dropped enough hints that he decided to play soccer in High School despite heavy pressure from the football coach and his teammates. I was relieved. My oldest played football, and I worried the whole time.

my grandson played pee wee tackle football for three years and we cringed every practice with their tackling drills. We "encouraged" him to play baseball instead and now plays year round baseball for a travel ball team. Big relief

I've said it before but the reality is the technology (.i.e. helmets, pads, uniform) hasn't caught up to the speed of the game.

You have 300+ lineman running 4.7's and 285 pound LB's running a damn near 4.5 both of whom are built like brick sh** houses going a 100mph per hour. And you have players who are wearing the bare minimum you can so they can be as light and fast as possible. The game was never meant for these kind of freakish athletes and the technology isn't there to protect the player.

Both guys like Driver and C-Wood have said in the past they would wear as little as they could to try and maintain what was fading speed. If you look at late film of Woodson in a Packer uniform, his shoulder pads were so small I had to do a double take to figure out if he was actually wearing them.

I'm not a parent but wouldn't blame any of them from preventing their kid from playing. It's a violent sport that can't adequately protect those who play in it.

There was some talk in the NHL, for when a player was concussed that the player delivering the blow would have to sit out as long as the player concussed was out.  I think this could really prohibit the head shots, etc.  If you knock a player out of the game with a concussion, then your out of the game, you think that will change the defensive player's perspective.  If that player has to sit out next week, so do you.  If that player is out for the year, so are you.  I think would ensure the best player safety possible, and to get out thugs like Merriweather, etc.      

I'm not sure that this would work for knees, ankles, turf toe, etc.  But I think it could work for any head "injuries".  

Kids no longer playing football--either of their own choosing or their parents--may be the eventual downfall of the sport. Trailrunners, I'm glad your son is making a full recovery.

We fans won't stop watching and buying, have to get that football fix.  It seems as addictive as crack.

The NFL will only take meaningful steps if it takes significant hits to the pocketbook. Punks like Merriweather and Suh should have been run out of the league by now. But why bother? Professional football is at the top of its game financially, raking in $9.5 billion in 2012.

As long as fans keep filling stadiums, tuning in, and buying expensive merchandise, the hits on players will keep on comin'.

Encouraging signs so far regarding his quality of life. Not concerned about how long he'll be out