Common Football Injury Dictionary

Every fantasy season, owners find themselves scrambling to find short and long-term replacements for injured players. The following is a summary of common football injuries, which will be useful this coming fantasy season. Each type of injury is briefly described and the average recovery time is listed.

AC Shoulder Separation

The acromioclavicular joint is where the collarbone attaches to the shoulder. A separation at this juncture involves the stretching (first-degree), partial tearing (second-degree), or complete tearing (third degree) of the ligaments which hold these bones together. A first-degree separation can take 7-10 days to heal, a second-degree separation usually takes between 2 and 3 weeks for recovery, and a third-degree separation can take as long as 3 months to fully heal.

Achilles Tendinitis

The Achilles tendon attaches the muscles of the lower leg (gastrocnemius and soleus) to the heel. Achilles tendinitis is inflammation of this tendon generally caused by overuse or a direct blow. This injury is usually curable in about 4-6 weeks with proper treatment.

Arthroscopic Surgery

This is a type of surgery that is minimally invasive and involves the examination and sometimes treatment of damage to the internal aspects of a joint. An arthroscope is inserted through a small incision, generally to assess the severity of or repair torn cartilage, knee ligament injury, or other joint injury. The advantage of this type of surgery is that it does not require opening the joint fully, which reduces recovery time due to less trauma to the surrounding tissues.

Collateral Ligament Injury

The collateral ligaments, medial collateral (MCL) and lateral collateral (LCL) act to prevent excessive sideways bending of the knee joint. These ligaments are injured when the knee joint is forced inward (MCL injury) or forced outward (LCL injury). These injuries are also categorized as first, second, and third-degree, with recovery time ranging between 6-12 weeks.

Cruciate Ligament Injury

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) attach the thighbone (femur) to the shinbones (fibula and tibia) acting to stabilize the knee joint. The ACL and PCL can be injured primarily by rotational forces on the knee. ACL and PCL sprains are categorized as first, second, and third-degree. Injuries to the cruciate ligaments can take 3-12 months to heal depending upon severity.

Concussion

A concussion is caused by a direct blow to the head. Depending upon the severity of the concussion, injury can cause varying levels of impairment of brain function. Concussions are categorized as mild (grade 1), moderate (grade 2), or severe (grade 3) depending upon symptoms. The recovery time for a concussion varies by individual athlete. The rule of thumb is that an athlete should not resume activity until symptoms have subsided.

Contusion

A contusion is basically a deep bruise that is caused by direct impact. In football we generally hear about quadricep (thigh) contusions. Usually, contusions do not sideline an athlet-- if they start to manage the injury immediately.

Dislocation

A dislocation occurs when the ball of a joint is forced out of its socket (i.e. arm forced out of the shoulder joint). A dislocation must be reset by proper medical professionals.

Fracture

A fracture is a break, crack, or shattering of a bone. In closed fractures, the broken bone does not pierce the skin, while in open fractures, the broken bone breaks the skin's surface. The recovery time for fractures varies.

High Ankle Sprain

A high ankle sprain involves stretching or tearing of the large ligament (sydesmotic ligament) that joins together the two bones of the lower leg (fibula and tibia). High ankle sprains do not heal as quickly as low sprains and are generally managed by applying an air cast for about 6 weeks.

Hip Pointer

A hip pointer is a contusion of the frontal portion of the hipbone. This type of injury is caused by direct impact to this area. Hip pointers are painful injuries that are often difficult to manage because of the constant stress on this area due to the strength of the thigh muscles, which attach to the hip at this area. Hip pointers can take between 1-3 weeks for recovery.

Iliotibial Band Syndrome

The IT band is a tendon that attaches the hip to the knee joint, providing stability. IT band syndrome occurs when this tendon rubs against the outer knee joint and produces inflammation. IT band injuries are caused by overuse or improper conditioning and can take 5 days to 6 months to resolve.

Meniscus Injuries

The medial and lateral menisci are the cartilage shock absorbers located inside the knee joint. These can be damaged by excessive twisting, turning, or compression at the knee joint, which produces tears. Due to the poor blood supply, meniscal injuries generally require surgery for repair. Athletes can generally return to action 4-8 weeks following surgery.

Sprain

This is an injury that involves the stretching, partial tearing, or complete rupture of a ligament. Sprains are categorized as first, second, or third degree. In football, the most common sprain is to the hamstrings.

Stinger

A stinger or burner as it can also be called, is a very common injury in football. This injury involves a stretch or compression of the brachial plexus (a complex system of nerves that involve the back, neck, shoulders, and arms). Stingers generally cause shooting pain down the arm(s). This type of injury requires various amounts of recovery time.

Strain

Strains are injuries that involve the stretching, partial tearing, or complete tearing of a tendon. Strains are categorized as first, second, or third degree.

Subluxation

A subluxation is similar to a dislocation in that a force causes a ball and socket joint to become disjointed. However, in the case of a subluxation, the injured joint will pop out and then back in, not requiring it to be put back into place.

Turf Toe

A metatarsal-phalangeal sprain, or turf toe, is an injury caused by a toe being hyper-extended. This injury is generally suffered while playing on rigid sport surfaces, such as artificial turf and usually occurs in the big toe. Turf toe is a common, nagging injury that many running backs deal with. Recovery time varies.

 

by Jeb Gorham

 

Seven Habits of Highly Effective FF Players

1. Protect Your Investments

There is only one thing worse than drafting LaDainian Tomlinson as the 1st pick overall, and seeing him go down with a season ending injury in week 2, and that's if you forgot to draft LT's back up Michael Turner. If your top players go down for a few weeks (or at worst, the season), it will definitely hurt; but if you don't have their back up, it will hurt even more. You will now have to go out and acquire a replacement, and all the other fantasy owners will know this and try and get the most out of you. Therefore, it is very important that you draft your star player's handcuffs, especially running backs and wide receivers on good passing teams. Drafting your star player's handcuffs is very important, but that is only the start; you also need to keep a close eye on every team's depth charts. Just because someone starts the season #2 on the depth chart, doesn't mean it will stay that way, so be sure not miss out on any action that occurs with your players and their back ups.

2. Don't waste a high draft pick on Quarterbacks

Regardless of your fantasy league's point systems, QB's will always end up scoring points and if you look back at the top 25 fantasy players from the year before, at least half (if not more) are QB's. What that means is that with the exception of Peyton (and I wouldn't draft him high either), just about all of the rest of the QB's in the league will generate a very similar amount of fantasy points. The fact is that QB's will always score points, because by nature they have the ball in their hands to start the play--meaning even if they have a bad day, they will still score points; whereas a WR or TE (or even sometimes a RB), will not score very many points because they didn't get the ball at all. So, try and wait till the middle rounds to grab your QB, and look for ones that either pass a lot or are on teams that scores a lot of points.

3. Stay true to your draft board

Heading into the draft, every good fantasy owner prepares a list of players ranked based on how they think the players will perform in the upcoming year. Once the draft begins, it doesn't take long for someone to go out on a limb and take someone early that will mess up your rankings. After the time you spent making your rankings, don't forget your reasons for making them and stick to your guns and stay true to your rankings. Many owners get in trouble when they start to sway from their plan and modify their rankings. The only time you should sway from your rankings is if you see the talent at a certain position dwindling at a faster rate than expected and you don't have anyone at that position.

4. Team Systems/Strengths and coaching strategies

When preparing for the draft and making your rankings, it's a good idea to pay attention to which teams are more prone to running or throwing the football. Knowing that will give you a good indication of how a team plans to use their players on offense, thus allowing you to have a better idea of what to expect in the upcoming season for certain players. A player in a more suitable system almost always outperforms a more talented player who is caught in the wrong type of offense. Any WR who plays on a team with a top flight QB will automatically have a higher likelihood of putting up big numbers, same goes for any RB who finds himself running behind a top notch offensive line. There's nothing worse than taking a stud WR who has a dud of a QB controlling his fantasy destiny.

5. Beware of 2 back systems

NFL teams that use 2 running backs to split carries will kill your fantasy team every year. You are asking for a year long headache wondering which one will perform better on a weekly basis. While both Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney put up solid numbers last year for New England, they were held back because they split carries. Very rarely did they put up big numbers the same week, and it was nearly impossible for their fantasy owners to predict which would put up the big numbers on any given week. So it's important to try and find the running backs who are the clear cut #1 guys. If you have the choice between a back who is "the guy" on his team or one that you know will be splitting carries/goal line touches, take the 1 back guy regardless of talent difference.

6. Be active in trades and in the free agent market

If you think your season ends after the draft, you're very wrong. Managing your team through trades and free agent pickups will go a long way in determining your squad's outcome. Keeping an eye on injuries and teams depth charts are the key to free agent pickups. If a starter or back up gets injured, be sure not to wait and make a move to pick any free agent that might gain from the injury. Fantasy is all about managing your team and having fun while doing so; nothing is more fun than pulling off deals to try to improve your squad. Not every deal has to be a blockbuster and you don't always have to go after the top level players. Usually they will cost you too much anyways. Seek out players who are at a low that you think will turn around for some reason and try to add them while their value is still low and affordable.

7. Depth, depth, and more depth

Too many times I've witnessed guys who leave the draft room gloating about the strength of their starting team. These are the guys I laugh at. Injuries affect EVERYONE during the football season and if you're caught with a lack of depth, your season could be over very early. To make sure your season doesn't end when you suffer through injuries, you need to make sure that when your stars go down you can plug someone else in that can contribute and not someone that will put up a doughnut. Not only does depth help you when you're dealing with injuries, but having some quality players on your bench will help when you decide to make some trades. So don't go to sleep once you finished drafting your starters, make sure you walk away from the draft with the deepest team possible and solid back ups at every position. You don't want to be held hostage by the other owners because your best player got injured and you have no depth to help you.

By Daniel Kalles, Tuesday, June 05, 2007