re: Bama Football Tidings

quote:

---

Here we go again.

Phase 3 of OTAs has just begun — wherein practices with opposition (but no contact) are allowed — and already there have been two ACL tears.

Chargers tight end Hunter Henry and Eagles linebacker Paul Worrilow suffered just that fate on Tuesday.

Many felt there was an ACL epidemic in 2017 when Julian Edelman was the headliner among 23 ACL tears before a meaningful game was played. We wrote about why it was not truly an epidemic.

In fact, the last five years have seen an average of about 23 ACL tears before the start of the regular season.

Why do these happen? Didn’t we correct this problem with the most recent CBA by reducing practice time and, in particular, contact in practice?

The reality is that limiting contact practice may reduce some injuries but will not reduce ACL tears.

The vast majority (70-80%) of ACL tears happen without direct contact, as was reportedly the case with Henry and Worrilow on Tuesday.

As players get bigger/faster/stronger, the ACL stays the same size. Without contact, there is a premium on speed, precision and tempo in practice. When a sharp cut is made and the foot sticks in the ground — much like a ski binding not releasing — the injury happens.

Unfortunately, given all this, ACL injuries are unpreventable.

Any sort of ACL prevention program, which can be effective to some extent for the untrained athlete and females, have not been proven effective in the NFL. And in the course of their regular workouts, NFL athletes already perform much of the muscle training included in such prevention programs.

Offensive linemen and some defensive linemen are mandated to wear knee braces in in college. But for the most part, that is not the case in the NFL. Many athletes resist wearing braces in the NFL, as they feel it restricts them. Modern brace technology is excellent, and as an orthopedist, I recommend prophylactic knee brace usage. But players often value performance and technique over protection that feels restrictive to them. And the fact is, while use of knee braces can help, it does not prevent all ACL tears.

When the Eagles lost Worrilow, I tweeted that it inevitably happens to several teams every year. Unfortantely, that was followed quickly by the news about Henry.

It was not the first time that two players tore their ACL on the first day of team work during OTAs. The Cowboys’ Sean Lee and Bears’ Dominek Hixon did so in 2014.

History tells us there will be about 20 more ACL tears before kickoff in the season-opening game.

---