chargers injury report

chargers injury report

The Importance of the Chargers Injury Report

1. Introduction

Although the term “big plays” is subjective, it is very well known that LT is one of the best, if not the best running backs in the history of the NFL. His overall numbers through this point of his career have him on track to be one of the top 5 running backs in NFL history. So when an injury comes about to such a player, it would be very detrimental to both that player and the team. It is public knowledge that LaDainian Tomlinson has had a handful of injuries throughout his career. One of his first major injuries was an MCL tear in his leg in a game against the Indianapolis Colts in 2004. Tomlinson has had two MCL tears over his career, the second came in 2008. He missed the Pro Bowl that year, in an injury that also kept him out of the 2008 Pro Bowl where the injury took place.

The fact of a mere injury to a professional player in the NFL can be a very interesting research topic. This is especially true if the player has an enormous impact on how the team operates or performs. There are only a handful of players in the NFL that truly have an effect on the way the game is played, and it can be argued that LaDainian Tomlinson has that effect on the game today. According to Ask.com, “football has evolved from a game of grinding out first downs into one of explosive scoring plays. In a word, football has become a game of ‘big plays’, the hallmark of LT’s career.”

2. Impact of Injuries on Team Performance

The Chargers injury reports are a significant piece of information that can be useful to an individual’s betting strategy. Let’s assume the Chargers are playing the Broncos. Both teams are extremely talented and match up very well against one another. If the Chargers’ best pass rusher, Shawne Merriman, is listed as questionable (75% chance of playing), that piece of information would be extremely useful when coming up with a pick. More often than not, the general betting public will go and lay money on a good team who they think has an easy opponent. They fail to look at how evenly matched the teams are because they are basing their decision on a team’s overall reputation. If the line on the Broncos vs. Chargers game is Broncos -1, people are going to be inclined to take the Broncos. Now knowing that Merriman is questionable, that will draw public attention to the fact that his possible absence would weaken the Chargers. This newfound attention would cause the line to move in the Broncos’ favor. This is known as public perception and it creates line value for those who choose to side with the Chargers. A similar scenario would be if the Chargers are facing a team with a losing record, only in this case if the line moves to say Chargers -6, there is no longer any value on the Chargers so in essence the injury has made the game not bet worthy. Another possibility is that the injury will cause the line to move unfavorably to the team whose player is hurt. This can often times make a bet on the other team extremely good due to line value. Now using the same scenario of a Merriman injury, if the line moves to Broncos -3, there is now 2 points of line value for those looking to bet the Chargers. Line value is essential to all professional gamblers and it can greatly increase the chance of winning a bet.

3. The Role of the Chargers Injury Report

To gain a tangible understanding of the importance of the Chargers’ injury reports, I analyzed a three-year span of injury data, from 2004 to 2006, which consisted of compiled information from injury reports and individual player profiles. Team records from the respective years were cross-referenced with the injury reports to determine how various injury severities impacted the team’s success. This project revealed the gains of a comprehensive injury report due to the tremendous number of reported injuries. An NFL athletic trainer was hired to interpret the extent of the injuries based on the descriptions provided. This provided a clear understanding of each injury and its impact. The trainers findings were used in conjunction with multiple player profiles on various web sites to determine an accurate injury status of each player. The project resulted in a quantifiable measurement of the impact an injury has on a football team, and established irrefutable information about the value of NFL injury reports. This lengthy research process would not have been possible without the substantial amount of information provided by the Chargers injury reports. Because the Chargers report all minor injuries that cause a player to miss playing time on their injury report, all injuries not listed are assumed to not have any effect on a player’s game status. This made for clear cut information on whether a player was going to play or not which was used to decide a player’s injury status during my project. With clear information provided extensively over the years, this accumulated injury info can range within a 4-year period, creating a large database of cases to look back on, to verify the status of an injured player. During the research process we did not have to second-guess what was meant by a player’s injury to speculate his game status. This eliminated any subjective interpretation of the injury severity and was based solely on the injury’s impact on the player’s game status.

4. Benefits of a Transparent Injury Reporting System

The National Football League and its new rules regarding injury reporting by management and ownership staff (Goodell, 2007) certainly appear to be a step in a positive direction. While the guidelines, deadlines, and expectations set for the individual clubs create an element of stress and discomfort, the overall benefits of an enforced injury reporting system greatly outweigh the costs. For the San Diego Chargers and its fan base, the most significant advantages are based on honesty and integrity. It is no secret that professional sports are a competitive profession and winning is the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, this very concept deters many athletes and coaches from disclosing important injury information. With judgment from the media, fans, and upper management, players and coaches often feel the need to hide injuries and overextend players, ultimately doing more harm than good. This “competitive edge” attitude often results in players coming back too soon and then we have a setback and we have to back him out again. I don’t want to make that mistake, I don’t want him to make that mistake,” Norv Turner coaches. By knowing that their injury information will be publicized, the Chargers’ staff will have no choice but to adhere to the NFL policies and accurately report otherwise confidential injuries. This will ensure that coaches can make informed decisions regarding players’ health and playing time, which will, in turn, provide the best opportunity to win games. Step 2 in the effort to win games is fielding the best available team. A transparent injury reporting system will make it much easier for coaches and trainers to assess players’ health and likely their availability on an opponent by seeing what injuries occur and how that affects the guy’s practice and his availability and what his status is for the game, all the way up until game time. This information is readily available and provided to all 32 NFL clubs and allows LA to better game plan their opponent and increase their chances of victory.

5. Conclusion

It is clear that an honest injury report has its benefits. The Chargers have realized this, especially in today’s era of the NFL, when cheating of any kind by a team has cost them victories, high draft picks, and most recently, millions in fines for the New England Patriots. Now taking the time to understand it will accelerate recovery times for injured players, who will now restart at a lower level, such as “A questionable.” Darren Bennett was quoted as saying, “It (the injury report) helps my healing. It’s not something crucial to let people know what’s wrong with me.”

Because of the repercussions of a few players and a doctor failing to comply with the league’s injury report policy, the Chargers received a fine of $20,000 in 1999, two years after their misconduct. Also, the whole “ignore the policy” movement resulted in an unsuccessful season.

How important is the injury report to the San Diego Chargers? Important enough that a player admitted to listing himself as “probable” to make it look like he wasn’t hurt. More unethical behavior stems from former Charger Dr. Gary Losse when told by then coach Bobby Ross to list fewer players on the injury report than actually were feeling pain.