Halo

How about we figure out WTF is causing ALL the injuries to our players. Since Brees left, the O-line is non-stop beat up, WR's are beat up, missing lots of parts. Strength and Conditioning? I can handle a few low win seasons without a franchise QB, but unlike last season, this team is decimated, and we suck. I'd rather start at the root of the problem first - who is over conditioning these dudes? Can the problem be fixed?

saintsfan1976

I'm going to sound too optimistic here but QB may not be as dire as we think, Halo you bring up a great point. Instead of blowing up the roster, start replacing guys like Peat and reinvest in the trenches. You know, where the game is won... We saw positive results when the line was healthy. And if you give a QB 4 seconds, EVERYONE is open.

MatthewT

I think the strength and conditioning has been addressed and looked at many times in the past. This may be a long shot at best, but maybe now look at the playing surfaces for both practice and home games. Even if the injuries are not directly happening on these fields, could they be contributing to the injury problems that the Saints can't seem to shake?

AsylumGuido

This could absolutely be part of the issue.

NFL players want changes to turf in Superdome, 5 other stadiums

The NFLPA says the turf used in those stadiums results in “statistically higher in-game injury rates” involving non-contact and lower-extremity injuries.

Author: Associated Press
Published: 7:55 AM CST November 13, 2022
Updated: 7:55 AM CST November 13, 2022

NEW YORK — The NFL Players Association is calling on six venues to change their current playing surfaces, saying the turf in those stadiums results in “statistically higher in-game injury rates” involving non-contact and lower-extremity injuries.

NFLPA President JC Tretter said Saturday the league should ban “slit film” playing surfaces that are used in Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, Minnesota, New Orleans and New York (Jets and Giants). Tretter posted his statement on the NFLPA website.

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However, two of those six fields host teams that have the top two records in the NFC. It could simply be dumb luck.

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

AsylumGuido

If the Saints were the only team experiencing these waves of injuries I might agree it may be a localized issue. But the fact is that team are losing key players throughout the league. The Rams, Cardinals, and Packers in the NFC all have similar problems. There's really only three teams that have avoided the injuries bug in the conference to a large degree and that is Philly (8-0), Minnesota (8-1), and the Giants (7-2). Only two of the other 13 teams in the conference have a winning record currently.

BakoSaint

I have seen some argue that part of the problem is new cleats. They say artificial surfaces are designed not to grab so much and jam players joints up but players keep getting newer cleat designs to get extra traction and so they jam anyway. So these people say its players fault. But I think this is not thinking deep enough. If MLB allowed steroids, and the players knew it was a health risk but also wanted $30 million contracts, would that be fine for MLB to do and shame on the players for taking them? Not to me. Many players have a short window to earn money to provide for their families and so if the rules allow for something that could give them an advantage to secure a big contract they have to do it. MLB doesn't allow steroids. They also don't allow aluminum and carbon or alloy type bats that could be an advantage but would probably cause more injuries from getting hit with the ball. So maybe in addition to looking at playing surfaces the league should look at the other half of the traction equation with those surfaces. They regulate helmets, they regulate the field, maybe the game would also be safer if they regulated the cleats and only allowed the cleats on a given surface and weather condition that were safe on that condition. Many players will feel they have to risk a big injury by wearing cleats that could help them look better on the field to get a big contract but if they were regulated for all players it could level the playing field in a safer way.

Also, I think part of the problem is that the Saints medical staff are on the sort of level that if they were veterinarians you would not really trust them to put down your 15 year old dog in a way that would not cause undue suffering. But hey the pound wouldn't hire them so yeah, have them take a look at MT's leg.

Another factor is that yes, lots of teams have a lot of injuries this year, but many of those teams didn't make it their mission in life to trade away as many mid round picks as humanly possible the last 5 years. So when their starter goes down, some guy steps in who went 4th round in 2020 and is younger than the starter. Sometimes that guy sucks, sometimes he gets hurt too, but sometimes he is great and you forget the injury and win anyway. In our case the guy stepping in usually is some washed journeyman who has been injured since high school and could have gone to Bama and went 1st round if only he was 6 inches taller or didn't tear both ACL's in HS or didn't have an aneurism discovered after his 4th concussion. So when we have injuries it goes from bad to worse. And to make up for the middle round draft picks we trade away, we sign discount veterans on their last legs. So we get more injuries and when injuries happen we have less youth and upside on the second string. Instead we should try to accumulate more middle round picks so sometimes when a starter goes down, there is actually a level of excitement to see what the backup can do.

The Dude

It’s been bad for a while. The amount of injuries players on our team incur is baffling. I feel like injury has been a major factor for the last 6 years or so. I can’t think of another team that loses so many players. Maybe the Rams this year. What sets this year apart it the fact we are losing players a positions that are supposed to be deep.