Remember when the Green Bay Packers had that bye week and everyone thought they’d come out of it healthy? Well, they came out of it healthier, but still played last week without key contributors Sam Shields, Clay Matthews, Charles Woodson and Greg Jennings.
This week they should have at least a couple more guys back, right?
Nope. They’ll face the New York Giants without key contributors Sam Shields, Clay Matthews, Charles Woodson and Greg Jennings.
Matthews, the biggest loss of the bunch, is currently listed as doubtful with an injured hamstring. Unless it improves dramatically over the next two days, he’ll miss his second game in a row.
The other guys?
Jennings actually started running this week, so he might be able to return next week. Woodson’s broken collarbone is still healing. Shields’ injury is actually worse than originally thought, according to coach Mike McCarthy, which brings us to another point.
Who the hell is diagnosing and treating these guys? Dr. Nick?
Let’s go down the list of fuckups.
Shields — injury more severe than originally anticipated, will be out a couple more weeks.
Jennings — originally diagnosed with a hamstring injury, sat out several weeks. Got a second opinion and found out he had an abdominal tear, which required surgery, causing him to miss additional time.
Nick Perry — originally diagnosed with a knee injury, which he did indeed have. However, Perry also ended up getting a second opinion and found out he had a more severe wrist injury than he was originally diagnosed with. Had to have surgery and went on IR.
So, you’ve got to wonder how much the Packers injury situation has to do with “bad luck” vs. shitty treatment and diagnosis.
We don’t have stats tracking NFL injury misdiagnosis, but we’d bet the Packers were among the league leaders at this point.