You want to cut down on football injuries . . .

ESPN’s Rich Cimini announced the Jets moved on from three members of their athletic care and performance department.

Gone are Brad DeWeese, Robert Sausaman and Matt Sams. DeWeese headed the department, and Sausaman and Sams were his top lieutenants.

The Jets had a lot of injuries last year.

So did a lot of other teams.

Football causes a lot of injuries.

I’m not a special pleader for DeWeese, Sausaman and Sams. I don’t even know the men. When you cover NFL teams, you really don’t have access to trainers or conditioning coaches. But I’d love to know how sports conditioning experts can prevent torn Achilles tendon injuries, and the Jets suffered three of those last year to quarterback Aaron Rodgers, offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker and nose tackle Al Woods.

Maybe some of those injuries are artificial turf-related. Who knows.

But what could DeWeese, Sausaman and Sams have done to prevent those injuries?

Every off-season, the media makes such a big deal about teams that were reportedly injury prone the prior year, and they ask team officials, often GMs and coaches, what they are going to do to cut down on injuries.

The answer I would give would be, “Don’t play football.”

Aside from maybe cutting down on soft tissue injuries like hamstring and groin pulls by using new-fangled sports science strategies, how on earth can you cut down on broken bones and torn knee ligaments?

I’m so tired of this lazy narrative every off-season, all around the league – “This team (fill in the blank) needs to cut down on injuries.”

Once again, if you want to cut down on most football injuries, the best answer – don’t play football.

I’m not being flippant, just keeping it real.

This just in: Football is a very violent sport. The body was not meant to play football.

An interesting fact about the early days of football, like back in the 1930s. It was mainly viewed as a college sport.

A lot of players just played in college, but didn’t pursue pro careers. Granted, the pro leagues were nothing like the modern NFL in terms of the number of job opportunities or pay, but one reason guys coming out of college didn’t want to play, was the perception back then that it’s a game for high school and college kids, not for adults. Too dangerous.

So many guys would have fun playing at Yale or Rutgers, or wherever, and then get real jobs, never even considering playing football for a living.

I’m not saying the Jets are blaming DeWeese, Sausaman and Sams for their injuries last year. They have not said that.

But if they are, it would be unfair.

Just look at NFL injury reports every week during the season around the league. They often read like “War and Peace.” Very long.

This isn’t a Jets problem. It’s a football problem.

Perhaps one reason they moved on from some people in their athletic care and performance department was cost-cutting.

Remember, they got rid of the assistant GM position, and that’s one reason Rex Hogan is no longer with the organization. They no longer have an assistant GM.

Woody Johnson and Ira Axselrad might be looking to cut the budget a little during an economic downturn in the country.

May 9, 2024

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