NFL Player Health Common Knowledge vs Probabilities

[LunaTick 30]

Long time FF player here.

Back in the day whenever a player held out of training camp, was limited in training camp, or did not otherwise get camp time in.
It was expected that that player had a high likelihood of having injury issues that season. 

Now we are in the times of "lets limit contact of players in offseason/preseason" so they are not getting injured, etc
What are we seeing. It seems we are seeinga high likelihood of having injury issues that season?

I says it is time for player health and safety to revert to player conditioning and reps in the preseason.

[wolves111 115]

Yep. Throw in Astro turf, steroids, over conditioning, contract implications, and the sport has changed a lot.

[LaChup 252]

Whatever happened to telling kids to "rub some dirt on it"? You do that now and they will call an ambulance, ask for gluten free antibiotics, and sue you for pain and suffering.

[weepaws 3,291]

More regular season games, and games played over sea.  

[Showboat 276]

In this age where "facts" don't exist, the powers that be can twist the data to support whatever narrative they want to promote .  With both the league and the union, every decision is always about maximizing revenue and profit (regardless of the narrative they are trying to sell).  

[TBayXXXVII 2,650]

On 10/12/2025 at 10:16 AM, LunaTick said:

Long time FF player here.

Back in the day whenever a player held out of training camp, was limited in training camp, or did not otherwise get camp time in.
It was expected that that player had a high likelihood of having injury issues that season. 

Now we are in the times of "lets limit contact of players in offseason/preseason" so they are not getting injured, etc
What are we seeing. It seems we are seeinga high likelihood of having injury issues that season?

I says it is time for player health and safety to revert to player conditioning and reps in the preseason.

So, this is interesting.  I have been on of the mindset that despite the players campaigning for less offseason hitting because it leads to injuries, the flipside is worse.  I think many are coming to this opinion.  Now, I do think that still could be the case and the link I've posted somewhat backs that up.  What I find interesting is "Table 1".  It clearly shows that more injuries in Weeks 1 through 4 of the 2020 regular season was significantly higher than Weeks 1 through 4 of the 3 seasons they compared them to.  That said, the total of each year though, reads something different.  In 2016, a total 712 injuries occurred from the start of pre-season through Week 4, 931 in 2018, and 800 in 2019... but, since there was no preseason games, 582 were injured.  Now, what I don't like is that they didn't compare the full seasons.  That's information I'd have liked.  Something that may seem like an interesting study though is... what if the preseason games were eliminated, but double the duration of training camp?

I've done searches for this in the past, because the CBA in 2011 was the one that reduced the off-season hitting and practice.  What I've never found, was a study that extended from 2011 to any year in the future and compared it to the 5 or so prior years.  The COVID one, examining 2020 is the only one I've ever found.  So, while the limited study seems to indicate that less injuries happened overall, between August and September, I'm still curious as why the NFLPA never did a study to say, "See, we were right".  I think it's because they know they're wrong and they don't say anything because it was only about the money and never the players actually getting injured.