Why do the Jets suffer the most injuries?

[Greg555]

Seems like it just a matter of extraordinary bad luck..according to an article in jetsxfactor.com

Can we be just..”middle of the pack” with regard to injuries in 2022?  I’d sign for that.

”By all measures, the Jets were the most injured team in the NFL in 2021 and were certainly in the top 10 over the past three seasons.”

 

 

[mrmajix]

I don’t have any metrics to validate my theory but I believe a lot has to do with too many players on one year deals or last year of their contacts + 2/14 and 4/13 seasons = a bunch of players not motivated to get back on the field. 

[Greg555]

4 minutes ago, mrmajix said:

I don’t have any metrics to validate my theory but I believe a lot has to do with too many players on one year deals or last year of their contacts + 2/14 and 4/13 seasons = a bunch of players not motivated to get back on the field. 

Could be.

if it just, or mainly, a matter of bad luck… can you imagine the odds for the Jets to consistently land at, or near the top…every damn season?

[PorP]

Good question,  I wonder the same. 

I always thought luck. Players straining too much cause we're always down and I have heard/ read several players say metlife is the worst turf in the league.

[Greg555]

1 minute ago, PorP said:

Good question,  I wonder the same. 

I always thought luck. Players straining too much cause we're always down and I have heard/ read several players say metlife is the worst turf in the league.

Good point. I believe the Giants have been hit hard by injuries too…compared to other teams. (Not as badly as the Jets..over the past several years)

[Hal N of Provo]

When they are out of it I think guys shut it down when they might risk it and push through for a competitive team.   And I don’t think it’s the wrong move btw.  

[CSNY]

Quite possibly the turf.  Jets and Giants have been hit hard by injuries lately. Also remember when the Niners came to play a few years ago and they suffered I think two possibly 3 severe knee injuries in one game. Bad luck can play a factor yes, but to me for Jets and Giants to be hard hit is just to coincidental for me 

[Jet Nut]

1 minute ago, CSNY said:

Quite possibly the turf.  Jets and Giants have been hit hard by injuries lately. Also remember when the Niners came to play a few years ago and they suffered I think two possibly 3 severe knee injuries in one game. Bad luck can play a factor yes, but to me for Jets and Giants to be hard hit is just to coincidental for me 

It’s brand new turf, was tested and retested by the NFL after the 49rs tried to blame the turf when Bosa, Garappolo etc went down two years ago on the 2nd game played on the turf.

You field a team of oft injured players and with FA vets who are a bit older and you’re going to have injuries.  I’d bet the difference between the teams hardest hit by injuries and the fewest isn’t all that great.  

[FTL Jet Fan]

2 minutes ago, CSNY said:

Quite possibly the turf.  Jets and Giants have been hit hard by injuries lately. Also remember when the Niners came to play a few years ago and they suffered I think two possibly 3 severe knee injuries in one game. Bad luck can play a factor yes, but to me for Jets and Giants to be hard hit is just to coincidental for me 

It’s interesting  because before last season Woody was tweeting about how he had the best turf guy for the stadium. This  year E Moore did a poll that he put out on Twitter asking what players prefer playing on grass or turf. Majority chose grass.  

[CSNY]

Not a conspiracy theorist at all and I know it was tested , retested and deemed safe to play in but dam just too many injuries happen on that field. Can’t be all luck can it?  

[CSNY]

2 minutes ago, FTL Jet Fan said:

It’s interesting  because before last season Woody was tweeting about how he had the best turf guy for the stadium. This  year E Moore did a poll that he put out on Twitter asking what players prefer playing on grass or turf. Majority chose grass.  

Subject has been discussed and everyone involved Would like all outdoor stadiums to be grass but in discussion it’s pointed out it’s cost prohibitive with MetLufe being a multi use building grass just wouldn’t hold up 

[FTL Jet Fan]

2 minutes ago, CSNY said:

Subject has been discussed and everyone involved Would like all outdoor stadiums to be grass but in discussion it’s pointed out it’s cost prohibitive with MetLufe being a multi use building grass just wouldn’t hold up 

Yeah good point, makes sense.  With all different venues field would be mud  or tore up after each event.

[Hal N of Provo]

13 minutes ago, CSNY said:

Subject has been discussed and everyone involved Would like all outdoor stadiums to be grass but in discussion it’s pointed out it’s cost prohibitive with MetLufe being a multi use building grass just wouldn’t hold up 

If they build a new stadium a tray that slides out and both layers grass lol 

[CSNY]

16 minutes ago, Hal N of Provo said:

If they build a new stadium a tray that slides out and both layers grass lol 

I believe they tried that one year as well in the original Giants stadium and I really thought it was a great idea but sadly that didn’t work out either. Guess we’re stuck with this stuff 

[Jimmy 2 Times]

I'm a believer that if the team was in playoff contention a lot of these injuries would be played through.  

Guys are shutting it down playing for a 4 win team. 

[CSNY]

That’s a theory but why are they getting them in the first place. 
Realize it’s a violent sport and injuries are part of the game but it seems Jets and Giants have gotten an inordinate amount of injuries 

[Jet Nut]

4 minutes ago, CSNY said:

That’s a theory but why are they getting them in the first place. 
Realize it’s a violent sport and injuries are part of the game but it seems Jets and Giants have gotten an inordinate amount of injuries 

Key word, seems

And if it were the turf, other teams would have a higher injury rate at MetLife than at other stadiums. 

[CSNY]

15 minutes ago, Jet Nut said:

Key word, seems

And if it were the turf, other teams would have a higher injury rate at MetLife than at other stadiums. 

I wonder if that’s been studied as past of the inspection of the field. 
 

[Barry McCockinner]

[Jet Nut]

41 minutes ago, CSNY said:

I wonder if that’s been studied as past of the inspection of the field. 
 

I would bet that the NFL and teams know the numbers for injuries on every field.  I remember when it was a thing in Cincy and there were an inordinate number of injuries while they still had that old style carpet when others had switched to the true turf type field. 

[LIJetsFan]

A deep dive into the NY Jets’ constant injury woes: Is there a solution?

By  Rivka Boord  06/24/2022

To the casual observer, it seems as if the New York Jets have been one of the most injury-ridden teams in football over the past decade. Just last season, Carl Lawson tore his ACL before taking a regular-season snap, Mekhi Becton went down in Week 1, and key players including Zach Wilson, Corey Davis, Elijah Moore, Marcus Maye, and Michael Carter all missed significant playing time.

The questions raised by these injuries are manifold: do the statistics show that the Jets really are more injury-prone than other teams? If so, is it due to the training staff, the medical staff, bad luck, or something else? What can teams and players do to prevent injuries?

A study from The Compensation Experts, a leading UK personal compensation company, shows that some NFL teams have had many more injuries than others. From the 2019 season through Week 9 of the 2021 season, the Jets had the third-most injuries across all teams in the NFL with 91. Their approximate dollar loss of $40.3 million ranked 10th, though. This seems to indicate that either these injuries were more minor and did not require extensive recovery time or the injuries did not happen to the Jets’ top-paid players.

However, a report on the 2021 season from BoxScore News indicates that the Jets lost the most man-games to injury of any other team in the NFL, at 237 (47 more than the second-most). Those injuries cost the Jets $28.7 million, also tops in the league. According to the report, Marcus Maye’s missed games cost the Jets $6.2 million – more than the entire injury costs of the Bills and Eagles!

By all measures, the Jets were the most injured team in the NFL in 2021 and were certainly in the top 10 over the past three seasons. The eye test definitely does bear out.

The bigger question is, why is this happening? Is there something the Jets can do to prevent it, or is this just bad luck?

Mike Tanier of Football Outsiders wrote a 2020 article that humorously answers this. He points out that there are two prevailing thoughts in the NFL: injuries are caused by too much practice and not enough practice. In other words, pretty much anything and everything, however contradictory, will be blamed for a rash of injuries. He makes it clear that he is not saying there is no rhyme or reason to why injuries happen, but rather that the chief cause of injuries is simply the violent nature of the sport.

According to a 2015 article in The Baltimore Beatdown by Dr. Bobby Esbrandt, athletes who get injured frequently usually have muscle imbalances, core stability deficits, and poor neuromuscular control. Esbrandt claims that NFL teams’ conditioning programs, which focus on developing muscle and strength, provide no help in correcting these issues.

The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a test that was developed to screen athletes for these specific weaknesses. It was found that players who score 14 or lower out of a possible 21 are 12 times more likely to be seriously injured.

However, many NFL teams use this screening, and serious injuries persist. Why, with all of sports science and such a large budget at their disposal, have teams not been able to mitigate the injury bug?

Field surfaces and weather factors

J.C. Tretter, the former Cleveland Browns center who is the president of the NFL Players Association, wrote an article about the dangers of artificial turf. He claimed, as have many others, that the artificial surface on game fields and practice fields causes stiffer joints, leading to many injuries in the lower extremities. The NFL injury data from 2012-18 shows a 28% increased risk of non-contact lower-extremity injury on turf compared to grass fields.

Is it possible that the turf at MetLife Stadium has caused the Jets’ injury bug? Well, since the Giants have also been ravaged by injuries in recent seasons, there is possible support for that narrative. The San Francisco 49ers came out of their 2020 Week 2 matchup against the Jets complaining bitterly about the turf. However, at least in the Giants’ case, many of their biggest injuries occurred away from MetLife on grass or were not lower extremity.

For the Jets, Mekhi Becton’s injury was a matter of bad luck; Greg Van Roten fell on his leg. Marcus Maye tore his Achilles in Indianapolis, where there is synthetic turf. Carl Lawson’s ruptured Achilles occurred at Ray Nitschke Field, which is the Packers’ artificial turf-surface practice field. Michael Carter’s high-ankle sprain happened at MetLife. Elijah Moore’s quad injury was at MetLife.

Ultimately, a broader study of artificial turf and its effect on injuries would be needed to draw conclusions about turf. The numbers do not look good, but since the injuries have extended far beyond the lower extremities, it’s hard to say that the artificial turf is the sole reason for the Jets’ injury bug. It may be that a certain percentage of the excess injuries come from playing on artificial surfaces, though.

Another weather-related factor that causes injuries appears to be the cold. According to a 2018 paper, concussion incidence goes up as temperature decreases. This is because the playing surfaces are harder, leading to harder hits to the head. Theoretically, a player who has already had concussions in the past would do better playing in milder weather. MetLife is not the coldest stadium in the league, but the Northeast temperatures get pretty rough as the season progresses.

There might not be a good answer as to how injuries can be prevented

When reading extensive research on injuries, the picture becomes so confusing that it is hard to get any consensus. For every Bill Belichick, who believes that decreased practice time leads to injuries, you have hard-core NFL Players’ Association advocates, who fine players and teams for too much contact in practice. You have beliefs about sports science, egg carton tests, neuromuscular imbalances, different types of cleats, compensation injuries, and too many other factors to name.

It appears, then, that Mike Tanier’s tongue-in-cheek article provides the best answer. Sometimes, there is no good answer. Not every visible trend is going to have a reason; some team was going to have to have a trend of more injuries, and unfortunately for the Jets, they are that team.

Perhaps the Giants and Jets should strongly consider switching to natural grass. But there isn’t much they can do about the cold weather or one player falling on another’s leg. The best they can do is follow sports science and hope that the rest falls into place. It’s not the medical staff’s fault. This is just the reality of a violent sport.

I know that this is not the answer Jets fans will want to hear. It’s hard to digest that luck plays such a big role in a team’s fortunes. But this has been the reality of the NFL since its inception. The main takeaway is that roster construction must consist of 53 guys, not just the top 24.

Luck is out of the Jets’ control. Now it’s time for Joe Douglas to take the reins on what he can control: building the depth of the roster to combat the attrition of a long season.

 

[BurnleyJet]

1 hour ago, LIJetsFan said:

Carl Lawson tore his ACL

Well this story can’t even get the basic facts right.

[Larz]

No. Gase and Saleh practiced too hard. You gotta take care of the players. 

[jgb]

I wouldn’t push myself to get back on the field with a hangnail when the season ends before Halloween.

[sackdance]

On 6/25/2022 at 11:09 AM, PorP said:

Players straining too much cause we're always down 

Jets try so hard they hurt themselves?

[PorP]

56 minutes ago, sackdance said:

Jets try so hard they hurt themselves?

Lol

 

But I guess I didn't mean that as much as taking angles  or hits they normally wouldn't or reacting to the unexpected with poor base. 

[rangerous]

5 hours ago, jgb said:

I wouldn’t push myself to get back on the field with a hangnail when the season ends before Halloween.

isn't that the truth?  it seems like winning teams just don't have the injuries.  the players want to play and be on the field.  maybe not so much with jets players.  hopefully they can start out hot and still be in the playoff hunt at week 6 or so.

[Biggs]

All gas, no brakes.   Without breaks you crash into stuff.  

[Bruce Harper]

On 6/25/2022 at 12:01 PM, CSNY said:

Quite possibly the turf.  Jets and Giants have been hit hard by injuries lately. Also remember when the Niners came to play a few years ago and they suffered I think two possibly 3 severe knee injuries in one game. Bad luck can play a factor yes, but to me for Jets and Giants to be hard hit is just to coincidental for me 

I wish we’d go back to grass. Would probably increase expenses in the amount of one UDFA. 

[CSNY]

5 minutes ago, Bruce Harper said:

I wish we’d go back to grass. Would probably increase expenses in the amount of one UDFA. 

Probably a bit of cost underestimating but get your point 100% ?

[Warfish]

I think there is a perception that we're always "the worst" at this or that. 

I liken it to the "we had the most drops" claim that was thrown around, when in fact we did not.

Before I'd want to debate injuries, I'd want solid, factual metrics on lost players/games to be able to evaluate, because I don't think the Jets have led the league in lost players/time in any of the previous three seasons.  Fans just think we did.

I found one source, but it's pay-to-view, so screw that:  https://www.mangameslost.com/category/nfl/nfl-2021-season

Don't have time to try and find another, but I'd really like to see a source re: injuries first.

With that said, yes, we've lost some players, and yes, it sucks.  

[jgb]

4 hours ago, rangerous said:

isn't that the truth?  it seems like winning teams just don't have the injuries.  the players want to play and be on the field.  maybe not so much with jets players.  hopefully they can start out hot and still be in the playoff hunt at week 6 or so.

TO came back for the superbowl like 6 weeks after a broken leg. Becton missed a year with a 6 week injury. This isn't a slam on Becton, would make sense for a team to keep a player viewed as a franchise cornerstone on the shelf if less than 100% in a lost season.

[jgb]

3 hours ago, Warfish said:

I think there is a perception that we're always "the worst" at this or that. 

I liken it to the "we had the most drops" claim that was thrown around, when in fact we did not.

Before I'd want to debate injuries, I'd want solid, factual metrics on lost players/games to be able to evaluate, because I don't think the Jets have led the league in lost players/time in any of the previous three seasons.  Fans just think we did.

I found one source, but it's pay-to-view, so screw that:  https://www.mangameslost.com/category/nfl/nfl-2021-season

Don't have time to try and find another, but I'd really like to see a source re: injuries first.

With that said, yes, we've lost some players, and yes, it sucks.  

Also found that site, also unwilling to pay. It's not my claim that Jets are "the most" injured so I have no need to either support nor refute the statement.

I'd be willing to wager that if one were to take the entire universe of data, one would see a strong correlation between time lost due to injuries and the fortunes of their teams. It would be idiotic for players to risk further injury and borderline immoral for teams to push guys back to action in lost seasons. I mean now we have healthy guys sitting out college bowl games to preserve their health. Why risk a career-ending aggravation of an injury to help a 3-13 team get to 4-13?

[THE BARON]

On 6/25/2022 at 12:13 PM, CSNY said:

Subject has been discussed and everyone involved Would like all outdoor stadiums to be grass but in discussion it’s pointed out it’s cost prohibitive with MetLufe being a multi use building grass just wouldn’t hold up 

I like the way they do it at the Arizona stadium.  Best of both worlds.

 

[CSNY]

20 minutes ago, THE BARON said:

I like the way they do it at the Arizona stadium.  Best of both worlds.

 

Great idea but unfortunately Jets and Giants skimped on the stadium they built