Leonard Weaver
One thing you can say about today’s Week One action is that a handful of unfortunate injuries have been suffered. So far, two season-enders have been confirmed and the prognosis of others will be determined later today/tomorrow.
In one of the early games, Texans defensive end Connor Barwin fractured his right ankle after crashing into teammate Antonio Smith. He’s done for the year, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. Not a huge blow to a defense that has good depth on the defensive line, but his absence will likely cause Houston to aggressively pursue the recently retired Aaron Schobel.
Then in Chicago, after being slammed to the turf, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford left the game with an injured right shoulder — the same shoulder that caused him to miss several games last season. He was later seen on the sidelines wearing just a t-shirt with the arm immobilized. Early reports floating around have Stafford out a minimum of 2-3 weeks, and up to 6. We won’t know what’s what until tests are done, but all signs point to Stafford missing a couple of weeks.
In New York, Panthers quarterback Matt Moore suffered a concussion against the Giants and was later hospitalized for it. Jimmy Clausen better get ready because it’s looking like he’ll get the nod in Week Two.
Finally, in today’s premier late game between the Packers and Eagles, it’s been literally one injury after another. Starting with the most severe, Eagles fullback Leonard Weaver tore his ACL after he was twisted around on a hideous-looking tackle; he’ll miss the remainder of the season. Philly quarterback Kevin Kolb suffered the same fate as Matt Moore as he was concussed early on in the game. Michael Vick took over for him and led a pretty effective offense, rushing and throwing for over 200 yards of combined offense.
Green Bay wasn’t spared either. Running back Ryan Grant hurt his ankle early on and could be seen hobbling to the locker room. When he returned to the sideline, Grant was sporting a walking boot. The team’s calling it a sprained ankle, and it doesn’t appear to be too serious. He should be fine for next week’s tilt.
Let’s hope the remaining three games for this week are relatively healthy. You never want to see these players go down, even if injuries are apart of the game.
UPDATE: More bad news for Philadelphia. Center Jamaal Jackson will likely join Weaver on injured reserve with a torn bicep muscle. In total, their QB has a concussion, their Pro Bowl fullback is done for the year, as is their starting center. Not a day the team, or its fans, want to remember.
