Injuries & Oddities: NFL Preseason Week 1 Edition

By Ha Kung Wong

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

Well, howdy y’all!

It’s been a long off season, but now we’re back for another season of Injuries & Oddities, where we cover all the weeks injuries and…well…oddities.  We’re nothing if not truthful in our advertising.  For all of you who don’t us, meet our mascot, the jackelope:

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Good stuff.  So, anyway, let’s get started!

Geno Smith

This one has been covered more than the ridiculous number of presidential candidates we currently have (including Trump and his Looney Tunes antics), so I won’t spend much on this but to say — really?  Over $600?  For those who somehow missed it, here’s the full story:

Which of course led to this:

And ultimately led to Geno Smith being on the shelf for the next 6-8 weeks while Ryan Fitzpatrick takes over as the Jets QB.  Turns out now, Fitzy may be the QB even when Smith returns.

Either way, the entire thing is ridiculous. Should have never happened.  And what happened to Enemkapali, you ask?  Well, of course, he went to play for Rex Ryan:

Hopefully, being a “good teammate” does not mean punching your starting QB in the face, not matter how many charity football games he misses.  Not that it would matter in Buffalo, since the current QBs on the roster actually barely qualify as actual NFL caliber QBs.  Don’t look at me, I know you were thinking it too.

Julius Thomas

One of the Jaguars biggest moves this off season was to snag TE TD threat Julius Thomas from the Denver Broncos for $46 million over 5 years, $24 million of which was guaranteed.  Unfortunately, they didn’t also get Peyton Manning, so I doubt we’re going to see a third straight year of 12 TDs for Thomas.  Heck, Blake Bortles didn’t even throw 12 TDs TOTAL in 2014 (he only got to 11 TDs in 14 games).  But regardless, it’s still a significant upgrade for the Jags, and everyone in Jacksonville was psyched about his potential.

Then, of course, during his first preseason game with the Jaguars, this happened:

Everyone in Jacksonville probably fell off their seats (or at least the 10 people actually watching the preseason game), but thankfully, it looks like he’ll only miss the preseason.

Again, I doubt he’ll have another “Julius Thomas” year, but he’s certain to improve the Jags redzone capabilities significantly…assuming he actually is back for the beginning of the regular season and assuming the lack of reps in the preseason don’t interfere with timing (not that Bortles has great timing to begin with).

Kevin White

When Kevin White was drafted by the Chicago Bears this year, I must say, being a Bears fan, I was doing backflips.  And seeing as how I suck at gymnastics, that’s quite a feat for me.  OK, so perhaps it was more falling on my back after guzzling a beer than an actual backflip, but you get the point.

So when I heard that Kevin White wasn’t participating in preseason activities because of shin splints, I was pretty happy, as shin splints certainly didn’t sound that bad.  Besides, if he was getting ready to start running, that couldn’t that bad, could it?

And then we found out that, yes, it could be that bad:

It’s being reported now that he will miss at least the first 6 games (because of being on the PUP list I suspect), but missing the entire 2015 season is a possibility.  All I can say is that this makes me incredibly sad.  And it makes me particularly sad because Alshon Jeffery isn’t healthy either:

Good news that he’ll miss about one week, but then again, a week ago we thought White would be running this week, and now he’s getting surgery.  And we still have to contend with the fact that Jay Cutler is our QB.  Sigh…life as a Bears fan is pretty crappy right about now.

Zach Ertz

In the off season, the Philadelphia Eagles decided to let go of basically all their receiving options (aka Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy).  So there’s been a lot of hype regarding the rise of Zach Ertz.  Could he be the next Rob Gronkowski?  Well, not on the bench he can’t:

We’ll see how this turns out, but for now, Eagles fans can cautiously breath normally.  Just don’t throw the oxygen tank out yet, you still might need it when the season starts, particularly if Sam Bradford holds to form and tears his ACL again.

Niles Paul

This one is terrible for the Washington Redskins.  Honestly, RGIII went from savior to scapegoat in a matter of two years.  But he has one last chance to redeem himself.  And that’s going to be even tougher without Niles Paul:

Losing Paul is something the Redskins could ill afford, particularly since Logan Paulsen is also out for the season.  Sad turn of events, but hey, look on the brightside, Redskins fans.  If RGIII falls flat one more time, at least you can finally be rid of him.

C.J. Spiller

Yup, we all knew he was injured and we all knew he was being held out of preseason games, but now we know a little more:

Being back for the start of regular season is good, but with Mark Ingram there and already familiar with the New Orleans Saints offense, it will be challenging for Spiller to immediately contribute.

Philip Rivers

No, Rivers isn’t injured.  At least not physically.  But he is odd and he did do this the other day to Jerry Jones:

I’d like to say it was your typical “photobomb”, but honestly, Rivers looks a little too excited about this.  Between you and me, if I see Rivers walking down a dark alley way towards me at night, I’m turning the other direction and running.  Just sayin’.

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That’s all for now, but tune in all season long as we keep you up to date on Injuries & Oddities!

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