Post by lazarus on Jun 18, 2003 11:38:03 GMT -5
By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasquarelli_len/1569766.html
During an otherwise nondescript offseason practice session two weeks ago, Washington Redskins middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter sauntered onto the field to gently test-drive his surgically repaired right knee, jogged linearly a bit without grimacing, and proclaimed that the rehabilitation of the once-squeaky hinge is notably ahead of schedule.
That the simple yet significant act occurred less than seven full months after the knee had exploded in the Thanksgiving Day matchup at Dallas -- rupturing the anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments and shredding some cartilage -- was dramatic enough. That it came more than six months before Dec. 25 was certainly not lost on George Edwards, the Redskins' first-year defensive coordinator.
"Seeing him back out there," said Edwards, "was kind of like coming down the steps on Christmas morning having a new bicycle sitting underneath the tree."
Priest Holmes has rushed for 3,170 yards over the last two seasons.
In many NFL precincts, players who missed significant time in 2002 or who finished the season on injured reserve, have sufficiently recovered and already demonstrated that they will be ready for action when training camps open next month. In some others, however, the anxiety is akin to the feeling kids used to get in the pits of their stomachs when they reached into their stockings, wondering if Santa left a surprise or just a lump of coal.
Just as injuries are a component of every season, the rehabilitation process is an element of every spring, and this is the time of year when some coaches still fret over whether the ultimate resolution to a key player's ailment will be knotty or nice.
In the Kansas City Chiefs front office, for instance, concern over the readiness of tailback Priest Holmes is a painful and ongoing vigil. Not since the Bo Jackson injury, or maybe even since Elvis Presley first appeared on the prime time stage of the Ed Sullivan Show, gyrating his pelvis in a suggestive manner that caused network censors to squirm uneasily, has a hip been so meticulously monitored.
And little wonder.
Holmes is hardly a one-man offense but, given his performance over a two-season stretch in which he was the NFL's premier all-around back, he certainly is the linchpin of one of its most explosive attacks. Since being plucked from the free agent bargain basement on Draft Day '01, the onetime Baltimore Ravens afterthought has registered 4,456 combined yards from scrimmage, scored 34 touchdowns and earned a pair of Pro Bowl selections.
Fueling the angst surrounding Holmes, who missed the final two outings of the season and subsequently underwent surgery on his right hip, are a spate of disparate and clouded reports about his recovery.
While team president Carl Peterson, agent Todd France and even Holmes himself, declare the star runner will be ready for camp practices, there seems no guarantee at this point. It could simply be blind faith (a commodity any guy named Priest is sure to possess in large doses), and not the latest orthopedic reports, doing most of the talking. Even perennially optimistic coach thingy Vermeil occasionally waffles, if one reads closely enough between the lines, on Holmes' status.
The Chiefs are well-coached, possess one of the most stable and able front offices in the league, have an offense capable of short-circuiting any scoreboard, and made some key free agency acquisitions to bolster a defense that ranked statistically as the NFL's worst in 2002. But if The Priest isn't in the lineup, Kansas City might not have a prayer of ending a postseason drought that has now reached five seasons.
The six other tailbacks on the current roster have combined for zero regular-season starts, 72 yards and no touchdowns. Underrated fullback Tony Richardson has proven effective in "ace" formations, and the plan is to deploy him that way again in '03, but there is a big difference between playing the occasional role of one-back and having to function as the one and only back.
Kansas City has other notable players coming off injuries as well -- wide receivers Marvin Minnis and Sylvester Morris, safety Jerome Woods, 2002 first-round defensive tackle Ryan Sims among them -- but the health of all those key performers still pales compared to what Holmes means to the Chiefs' condition in 2003.
Noted offensive coordinator Al Saunders last month: "Nothing against my wife and kids … but (Holmes) is the most important person in my life right now."
Holmes is hardly, of course, the only question mark commanding exclamation point-type concerns during this relative lull period leaguewide. In training rooms, facilities and even physicians' offices around the NFL, there are critical updates and re-checks occurring on a daily basis. And those evaluations, and the ongoing rehabilitations of players limited by injuries in 2002, will become exponentially more vital as camp start-up dates near.
"This is a time when the importance of your medical and training staffs is magnified," acknowledged Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo. "Those people are always important to you. But in the final stages of rehabilitation, the period we're in right now, they can make an even bigger difference for you."
And a Bears team whose victory total slipped by a perilous nine games in '02, and whose management staff may need a rebound campaign to remain employed in Chicago, likely comprehends that even more so than most franchises. Just with four key players alone in 2002 -- offensive linemen Rex Tucker and Marc Colombo, linebacker Warrick Holdman and defensive tackle Ted Washington -- the Bears lost 43 starts last season.
More than 150 players, in excess of five per franchise, finished 2002 on injured reserve. And the I.R. roll call, stocked with some high-profile names, only begins to document the negative body count around the league. Many of those players, including Trotter, have yet to be cleared for unmonitored work in training camps.
Such decisions will be made in the ensuing month and here is a thumbnail look at some of the other key situations not mentioned above, all involving prime players who missed significant time to injury during the 2002 season, which merit scrutiny:
ESPN.com
espn.go.com/nfl/columns/pasquarelli_len/1569766.html
During an otherwise nondescript offseason practice session two weeks ago, Washington Redskins middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter sauntered onto the field to gently test-drive his surgically repaired right knee, jogged linearly a bit without grimacing, and proclaimed that the rehabilitation of the once-squeaky hinge is notably ahead of schedule.
That the simple yet significant act occurred less than seven full months after the knee had exploded in the Thanksgiving Day matchup at Dallas -- rupturing the anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments and shredding some cartilage -- was dramatic enough. That it came more than six months before Dec. 25 was certainly not lost on George Edwards, the Redskins' first-year defensive coordinator.
"Seeing him back out there," said Edwards, "was kind of like coming down the steps on Christmas morning having a new bicycle sitting underneath the tree."
Priest Holmes has rushed for 3,170 yards over the last two seasons.
In many NFL precincts, players who missed significant time in 2002 or who finished the season on injured reserve, have sufficiently recovered and already demonstrated that they will be ready for action when training camps open next month. In some others, however, the anxiety is akin to the feeling kids used to get in the pits of their stomachs when they reached into their stockings, wondering if Santa left a surprise or just a lump of coal.
Just as injuries are a component of every season, the rehabilitation process is an element of every spring, and this is the time of year when some coaches still fret over whether the ultimate resolution to a key player's ailment will be knotty or nice.
In the Kansas City Chiefs front office, for instance, concern over the readiness of tailback Priest Holmes is a painful and ongoing vigil. Not since the Bo Jackson injury, or maybe even since Elvis Presley first appeared on the prime time stage of the Ed Sullivan Show, gyrating his pelvis in a suggestive manner that caused network censors to squirm uneasily, has a hip been so meticulously monitored.
And little wonder.
Holmes is hardly a one-man offense but, given his performance over a two-season stretch in which he was the NFL's premier all-around back, he certainly is the linchpin of one of its most explosive attacks. Since being plucked from the free agent bargain basement on Draft Day '01, the onetime Baltimore Ravens afterthought has registered 4,456 combined yards from scrimmage, scored 34 touchdowns and earned a pair of Pro Bowl selections.
Fueling the angst surrounding Holmes, who missed the final two outings of the season and subsequently underwent surgery on his right hip, are a spate of disparate and clouded reports about his recovery.
While team president Carl Peterson, agent Todd France and even Holmes himself, declare the star runner will be ready for camp practices, there seems no guarantee at this point. It could simply be blind faith (a commodity any guy named Priest is sure to possess in large doses), and not the latest orthopedic reports, doing most of the talking. Even perennially optimistic coach thingy Vermeil occasionally waffles, if one reads closely enough between the lines, on Holmes' status.
The Chiefs are well-coached, possess one of the most stable and able front offices in the league, have an offense capable of short-circuiting any scoreboard, and made some key free agency acquisitions to bolster a defense that ranked statistically as the NFL's worst in 2002. But if The Priest isn't in the lineup, Kansas City might not have a prayer of ending a postseason drought that has now reached five seasons.
The six other tailbacks on the current roster have combined for zero regular-season starts, 72 yards and no touchdowns. Underrated fullback Tony Richardson has proven effective in "ace" formations, and the plan is to deploy him that way again in '03, but there is a big difference between playing the occasional role of one-back and having to function as the one and only back.
Kansas City has other notable players coming off injuries as well -- wide receivers Marvin Minnis and Sylvester Morris, safety Jerome Woods, 2002 first-round defensive tackle Ryan Sims among them -- but the health of all those key performers still pales compared to what Holmes means to the Chiefs' condition in 2003.
Noted offensive coordinator Al Saunders last month: "Nothing against my wife and kids … but (Holmes) is the most important person in my life right now."
Holmes is hardly, of course, the only question mark commanding exclamation point-type concerns during this relative lull period leaguewide. In training rooms, facilities and even physicians' offices around the NFL, there are critical updates and re-checks occurring on a daily basis. And those evaluations, and the ongoing rehabilitations of players limited by injuries in 2002, will become exponentially more vital as camp start-up dates near.
"This is a time when the importance of your medical and training staffs is magnified," acknowledged Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo. "Those people are always important to you. But in the final stages of rehabilitation, the period we're in right now, they can make an even bigger difference for you."
And a Bears team whose victory total slipped by a perilous nine games in '02, and whose management staff may need a rebound campaign to remain employed in Chicago, likely comprehends that even more so than most franchises. Just with four key players alone in 2002 -- offensive linemen Rex Tucker and Marc Colombo, linebacker Warrick Holdman and defensive tackle Ted Washington -- the Bears lost 43 starts last season.
More than 150 players, in excess of five per franchise, finished 2002 on injured reserve. And the I.R. roll call, stocked with some high-profile names, only begins to document the negative body count around the league. Many of those players, including Trotter, have yet to be cleared for unmonitored work in training camps.
Such decisions will be made in the ensuing month and here is a thumbnail look at some of the other key situations not mentioned above, all involving prime players who missed significant time to injury during the 2002 season, which merit scrutiny:
