From PFW
NFL mandates full injury disclosure
In a guideline certainly meant to get the attention of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Cowboys boss Bill Parcells, the NFL informed its 32 head coaches they must be ?more specific? reporting player injuries. The commissioner-approved order says teams must report the specific part of the body that has been injured ? i.e., ankle, knee, shoulder ? instead of vague generalities that teams like the Patriots have used in the past, such as ?leg.? The league also called for a Friday update to injuries and pushed deadlines for filing injury reports to later in the day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
PFW: Can you foresee further conflict in reaction to this policy change?
Reynolds: To be sure, the first injury report filed by the Patriots will be as vague as the rules allow. While league rules now require teams to make public the names of any players not taking part in 11-on-11 drills, there are ways around full disclosure. For example, if Tom Brady has a bad shoulder, he can participate in 11-on-11 drills. Handing off seven times to Corey Dillon is participation, isn?t it? This is just the way the Patriots? brass operates. Until practices are forced to be open to the media, don?t expect the ?full disclosure? rule to be followed ? it simply cannot be fully enforced. The NFL office does have the power to request practice film; still, the film would show, using our example, that Brady was on the practice field and did, in fact, suit up for the team scrimmage.
The reason we single out the Patriots is Belichick?s history for revealing as little as possible. WR David Givens, OLT Matt Light and ORT Tom Ashworth missed the first 10 days of training camp with ?undisclosed injuries.? When asked upon his return to practice on Monday what his specific ailment was, Ashworth said ?the injury required rest? but wouldn?t disclose the specific injury.
The one area that you would expect to see the greatest contrast is postgame and Monday press conferences. Rather than the head coach taking the podium and alerting the media that a player has something wrong with his arm, the rules stipulate the coach be as specific as possible.
NFL mandates full injury disclosure
In a guideline certainly meant to get the attention of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Cowboys boss Bill Parcells, the NFL informed its 32 head coaches they must be ?more specific? reporting player injuries. The commissioner-approved order says teams must report the specific part of the body that has been injured ? i.e., ankle, knee, shoulder ? instead of vague generalities that teams like the Patriots have used in the past, such as ?leg.? The league also called for a Friday update to injuries and pushed deadlines for filing injury reports to later in the day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
PFW: Can you foresee further conflict in reaction to this policy change?
Reynolds: To be sure, the first injury report filed by the Patriots will be as vague as the rules allow. While league rules now require teams to make public the names of any players not taking part in 11-on-11 drills, there are ways around full disclosure. For example, if Tom Brady has a bad shoulder, he can participate in 11-on-11 drills. Handing off seven times to Corey Dillon is participation, isn?t it? This is just the way the Patriots? brass operates. Until practices are forced to be open to the media, don?t expect the ?full disclosure? rule to be followed ? it simply cannot be fully enforced. The NFL office does have the power to request practice film; still, the film would show, using our example, that Brady was on the practice field and did, in fact, suit up for the team scrimmage.
The reason we single out the Patriots is Belichick?s history for revealing as little as possible. WR David Givens, OLT Matt Light and ORT Tom Ashworth missed the first 10 days of training camp with ?undisclosed injuries.? When asked upon his return to practice on Monday what his specific ailment was, Ashworth said ?the injury required rest? but wouldn?t disclose the specific injury.
The one area that you would expect to see the greatest contrast is postgame and Monday press conferences. Rather than the head coach taking the podium and alerting the media that a player has something wrong with his arm, the rules stipulate the coach be as specific as possible.