After only two games, the injuries are piling up at an alarming rate. It’s not just the Bears, who have lost three-fourths of their secondary.
Already, a majority of teams have lost key players for significant periods. Coaches stay upbeat because they have no choice. The long season just got longer. But consider how Pittsburgh All-Pro guard Alan Faneca reacted to losing quarterback Tommy Maddox for half a season with an elbow injury.
Asked if he was excited to see rookie Ben Roethlisberger take over, Faneca provided the kind of honest response lacking from most people in this brutal sport of attrition.
“Exciting? No, it’s not exciting. Do you want to go work with some little young kid who’s just out of college?” Faneca asked.
Faneca, of course, had to clarify his statement later, such candor being so rare. He explained to Roethlisberger he was concerned about Maddox, his friend and roommate.
“I told him it had nothing to do with him,” Faneca said. “He’s a good kid, he’s going to come in and play and be good. But am I excited about it? No. What is there to be excited about your starting quarterback being hurt for six weeks?”
The division injury update:
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– Vikings: Tight end Jim Kleinsasser, right tackle Mike Rosenthal and cornerback Ken Irvin are gone for the season. Running back Michael Bennett won’t play for two more weeks. Neither will tight end Jermaine Wiggins.
The Bears hated seeing Mike Brown damage his Achilles’ tendon in the Packers game. The Vikings watched in horror as Irvin blew out an Achilles’ warming up before the opener against Dallas.
Coach Mike Tice, a former tight end, likes to play two or three tight ends at a time. At the end of Monday’s game in Philadelphia, rookies Jeff Dugan and Richard Owens were playing. They re-signed second-year tight end Sean Berton, released in training camp.
“Berton was at the Mall of America when I called him,” Tice said. “He’s at the Mall of America and I ask him, `How would you like to start next week?'”
– Packers: Defensive tackles Grady Jackson and James Lee are out. Running back Najeh Davenport, a critical sub for Ahman Green, is hobbled by a hamstring injury.
– Lions: Receiver Charles Rogers is out for the season. Linebacker Boss Bailey hasn’t played yet.
It gets worse
The Redskins and Browns opened their seasons with victories and high hopes. Suddenly, they’re reeling.
Washington’s Joe Gibbs is finding out what Jacksonville suspected about quarterback Mark Brunell: He’s fragile, hurt by the fifth game for the fourth straight year. The Redskins also lost star linebacker LaVar Arrington for at least a month after losing right tackle Jon Jansen for the season.
Cleveland lost defensive end Courtney Brown for the season and rookie tight end Kellen Winslow for most of it. Defensive tackle Gerard Warren is also hurt.
Changing the guard
This is part of the reason division winners change every year: Among last year’s winners, the Ravens have been without left tackle Jonathan Ogden. The Colts are worried about running back Edgerrin James’ hamstring. The Panthers lost offensive spark Steve Smith for the year. The Rams are moving safety Aeneas Williams back to cornerback to replace injured Travis Fisher. The Eagles lost No. 1 pick Shawn Andrews, who was starting at guard. Chiefs running back Priest Holmes is questionable with a sprained ankle.
Who’s healthy?
Guess who. The defending champion Patriots haven’t played receiver Troy Brown yet, but they are the deepest team in the league, and their schedule has yet to test them.
They beat the Colts in the Sept. 9 opener and the Cardinals Sept. 19 and enjoy a bye this week before dates at winless Buffalo Oct. 3 and at home against winless Miami Oct. 10. That’s three games within 25 days, four in 32 on their way toward a record-setting 19 wins in a row.
Panic time
Although 0-2 isn’t the end of the world, it seems like the beginning of the end in Buffalo, Miami, Tampa Bay and Kansas City, where there were higher expectations.
The Bills have been horrendous on offense despite the presence of two running backs, Travis Henry and Willis McGahee, one big-time receiver, Eric Moulds, a No. 1 draft choice receiver, Lee Evans, quarterback Drew Bledsoe and a new offensive-minded coach, Mike Mularkey. Bledsoe was sacked seven times by Oakland and is making Bears general manager Jerry Angelo look smarter by the week for not pursuing him.
The Dolphins have 90 yards rushing, fewer than 29 individuals. They also are destroyed by injury.
Bucs coach Jon Gruden takes his new team to meet his old Raiders, although the Bucs now are the oldest team in the league even though Gruden got rid of Warren Sapp. Now he has to figure out how to block him.
The Chiefs would like to rest the ailing Holmes, so coach Dick Vermeil suggested it was time for last year’s No. 1 draft choice, Larry Johnson, to “take the diapers off.” Johnson got ticked off by the comment, indicating his immaturity.
Said Vermeil: “I wasn’t planning on saying that. It just popped into my scrambled head. In a way, there’s a little truth to it. If the shoe fits, wear it.”
Diapers and cleats aren’t a pretty combination.
Penthouse to outhouse
Cleveland’s Jeff Garcia went from local hero after beating Baltimore to a passer-efficiency rating of 0.0 against Dallas.
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His 8-of-27, 71-yard, three-interception day put him in the record books with the Bears’ Bobby Douglass (1971), the Falcons’ Kim McQuilken (1975), the Bills’ Gary Marangi (1976) and the Redskins’ Tim Hasselbeck (2003).
“Anytime you experience a low like Sunday, you look forward to that next opportunity to bring yourself out of it,” Garcia said. “I have no doubt I’ll be a better player this week. Obviously, I have to be.”
Rice streak
Raiders guard Frank Middleton has this take on the end of teammate Jerry Rice’s 274-game receiving streak: “To give up the record for a win, that’s a small price to pay. Now that the record is dead, you really get to see what kind of character he has. If he comes out and does great because the record isn’t on the line anymore, it’s just going to make him look better. If he shuts it down and gets mad because it’s broke, that’s going to say something about him too.”
Moss comparison
Minnesota’s Randy Moss has caught a pass in all 98 games in which he has played since he entered the NFL. Only 177 more and he’ll break Rice’s record. That’s 11 seasons plus one game. See you in 2016.