Back in the Big Three v2.0 era, I sat behind the Celts bench one game. I could not believe how big Ray Allen's calves were. Like, they were bigger than my thighs. It was crazy.
Defense takes the field.
40 yr old QB coming off ACL takes the field.
Offensive line takes the field.
That offensive line.
View: https://youtu.be/ekaKL218q_s?si=Q2rWgvly7fDPQzxC
Not at all surprised to see Rodgers trying to give it a go this year, it was always a possibility with him and El Attrache involved. Both like to push the envelope.
Given the Jets position in the standings, I do think it's a silly risk to take if he really does start going full speed/plays in games.
More likely than not he will end the season alright, but this is still unchartered territory here. You'd like at least a small successful trial with a handful of "regular" athletes on a similar timeline (I assume hasn't been done?) before trying this on a franchise NFL QB. No real reason, aside from ego, for Rodgers to come back this year if it's a lost cause for the Jets.
A repeat tear would be more difficult to fix and at age 40 his career would be even more in jeopardy.
Given the Jets position in the standings, I do think it's a silly risk to take if he really does start going full speed/plays in games.
More likely than not he will end the season alright, but this is still unchartered territory here. You'd like at least a small successful trial with a handful of "regular" athletes on a similar timeline (I assume hasn't been done?) before trying this on a franchise NFL QB. No real reason, aside from ego, for Rodgers to come back this year if it's a lost cause for the Jets.
A repeat tear would be more difficult to fix and at age 40 his career would be even more in jeopardy.
Yes! I’ve posted about this before — I sat courtside one time and just stared at Ray’s calves in fucking disbelief during warmups right in front of me. I used to describe it to people as “picture 6 inch ankles with a youth soccer ball inserted into where the calves are”. They were fucking insane.
I mean, can this be at all on the up-and-up with respect to no performance enhancment etc. ? A 43 year old man coming back from an achilles tear in like 3 months?
Is the media going to just accept this like they did the “That was for my wife” excuse that gosh-darn-golly-gee Peyton gave about the HGH delivered to his wife at their Florida home where he was training for his recovery from neck surgery at 38?
I’d also like to see Aaron’s notes on all the “research” he did on both the drugs used to put him under during the surgery and the actual surgical procedure, and to see how much of it he learned on the JRE.
He is 39, not 43.
Return to play from some of these previous "out for the season" tendon repairs (Achilles, biceps, etc) has been trending down over the last few years.
This is at least a month early even for the recent envelope pushers...and like I said would make me a bit nervous. Don't see the risk/reward here for Rodgers or the Jets.
But in general, while a return to practice in 3 months (and maybe game action in 4 months) is SUPER fast, it doesn't shock me like it would have 5 years ago. Surgical technique and rehab has definitely improved, especially in the high end athletes seeing the top docs with unlimited resources.
This is interesting because I’ve always just accepted surgical recovery times as limitations imposed by the human body. What’s changed on the surgical front that’s allowed the faster recoveries - I assume less surgical trauma? - and are there more limiting factors we could hope to remove going forward?
What is the risk? Re-tearing the achilles? If he tears it again, would that be a worse injury than the previous? Earnest question because it seems almost without risk - if he gets injured again, they won't need him for nine months anyway. Why not give it a go if he feels up to it?
He might also compensate for his achilles injury and hurt something else; this just strikes me as very I'll advised. If I were Rodgers I'd be focused entirely on 2024. Gear up for one more run.
Yeah, I hear you, but is that injury more likely to be worse than this one?
Who knows but on a 40 year old body with this many miles (and that O line), I'd avoid the risk and start fresh next year.
If there's a chance he can help them make the playoffs then I think you really consider it: he doesn't have many kicks at the can left and the league is very open.
Rodgers is trying to return for the same reason he does everything... attention. He's not doing it because he has few shots and thinks the Jets can win the SB, he's doing it so people will talk about him. My guess is he milks the full 21 days then doesn't get activated and says the team made the decision but his amazing body was ready.
This is the most likely outcome. And many media appearances detailing how great he'll be next year.
It's worse in that he'd (1) have to physically rehab again, (2) would have to mentally go through the process again and basically be rehabbing for a full year, and (3) wouldn't be able to workout with the rest of the team in the offseason. That said, he's a pro athlete and pro athletes generally like to play their profession so I understand where he's coming from.
I think this is Bingo. And he gets the chance to more directly talk to his teammates about medicine and suntan lotion before they all end up like that loser, Travis Kelce.
Am I missing something --- is there not an NFL coaching carousel thread?
Red October - where art thou?
Red October - where art thou?
Surgical techniques have improved mainly.
It's sort of a long answer to get into the details, but essentially some of the newer techniques allow for more immediate stability of the tendon, so you can rehab a lot sooner and more aggressively.
Previously there was more waiting on the front end and longer rehab on the back end. Now the healing and rehab are closer to being in parallel rather than in series.
I still would be a bit apprehensive to be on the far leading edge as Rodgers appears to be. Some of the studies with early return to play after ACL reconstruction didn't go very well and had higher re-tear rates. I dont know of any 3 month return to play Achilles data.
But it's because his team is hopeless without him and they're not in contention, not because he couldn't play if he wanted to!
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Smallish sample size, but this is a good read about Brian Flores's defense in Minny.
Interesting that O'Connell, when asked about Flores, talks about Flores "and his staff." One of the benefits of moving around the NFL in search of your next HC gig might be that you meet a lot of different dudes and develop relationships with guys you work well with who might bring new ideas to the table.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39006295/how-minnesota-vikings-brian-flores-adopted-pittsburgh-panthers-defense
Interesting that O'Connell, when asked about Flores, talks about Flores "and his staff." One of the benefits of moving around the NFL in search of your next HC gig might be that you meet a lot of different dudes and develop relationships with guys you work well with who might bring new ideas to the table.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39006295/how-minnesota-vikings-brian-flores-adopted-pittsburgh-panthers-defense
Well this is wild. Dianna Russini reporting that the Jets want to move back to Zach Wilson at QB, but he doesn't want to start again. I don't know that I've ever seen something like that before.
That reporting better be correct otherwise that's horribly wreckless of Russini. Also left unsaid whether he doesn't want to play at all or just not for the Jets.
The way it's being phrased makes it seem like he doesn't want to play for the Jets. But it's unclear. There's no real detail, just a single paragraph saying he is reluctant to step back into the starting role and that the organization is discussing next steps.
Now looks like it's a nothing-burger of a story. Whoever the leaker was (ahem, Rodgers) looks stupid.
Coach Hardo actually gave a speech to his players where he pointed to the 9/11 hijackers as a positive example of people working together.
My Christmas has come early.
Ty Dunne has a long three part series on Coach Hardo on Substack for his subscribers, but the excerpts are AMAZING:
It is well worth suffering through a horrible Pats season to get these quotes about Coach Hardo. WELL WORTH IT.
You've done, maybe, a handful of great things on this site over the last 20 years. But giving Coach Hardo the moniker Coach Hardo is absolutely the greatest thing I've ever seen. It is becoming more true every day.
I don't know whether to be insulted it's only a handful or be flattered that you like the name so much. I'll take it!!
The McDermott Problem, Part 1
The full text of the 3 articles isn't fully available for people not paying for a sub, but there's enough there already to tell us everything we need to know. The quotes I posted above were on Reddit from people who have seen the full thing.
Coach Hardo, in the 13 seconds game, BLAMED THE OFFENSE FOR SCORING TOO QUICKLY.
The full text of the 3 articles isn't fully available for people not paying for a sub, but there's enough there already to tell us everything we need to know. The quotes I posted above were on Reddit from people who have seen the full thing.
Coach Hardo, in the 13 seconds game, BLAMED THE OFFENSE FOR SCORING TOO QUICKLY.
I was being glib with the maybe, only because I was offering effusive praise. It had to be tempered. Everything in balance.
Well, remember by "handful," he was using the Mordecai Brown Statistical Model
Of course; if I wanted to be mean, I'd say @johnmd20 always depends on the Dravecky Scale
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I can't stand Cam Newton, but at least I give him credit for having a great season that year.
This guy might be the biggest buffoon in sports right now. He could out-bluster and out-blame shift Rex Ryan at this point.
Guess he’s talking about the terrorists on the plane that didn’t hit their target.
I suck at excerpting quotes on mobile, but Jesus, his explanation might be worse than the initial comments. Non-sensical word salad. What a tool.
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/sean-mcdermott-confirms-citing-9-11-attacks-as-proof-of-teamwork
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/sean-mcdermott-confirms-citing-9-11-attacks-as-proof-of-teamwork
It wasn't long ago that some people here were positive he was a better coach than Belichick.
Maybe when we shitcan BB, we can bring in a real coach like Hardo.
In his next gig, Hardo could run the MBTA. Many motivational teamwork opportunities about trains running on time.