I Am Totally On Board With Faking Injuries In The Preseason

[BillsImpossible]

Bruce Smith did it a lot to avoid training camp and protect his health. It worked. He had an incredibly long NFL career.

"Bruuuuuuce!"

Once upon a time, Bruce Smith got injured in training camp. After getting injured, Bruce Smith made up his mind about the preseason.

Hold out for a new contract. Fake an injury. Do whatever he could to protect himself from getting injured or, "nicked up," in a meaningless game.

That was before the Internet, before passing out at a red light would have been a huge story.

Rex Ryan is a players coach. He's all about the players, and I think he's taking Bruce Smith's approach to training camp with a twist.

Who could argue with Rex Ryan if he wanted to keep his players healthy, take a better look at the backups, and keep a lid on what the Bills offense is going to do in 2015?

His defense is no secret. The offense is.

Is it just a coincidence that Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, and every Bills starting running back hasn't been playing since after the Bills first preseason game?

No doubt, there are some legit injuries. Boobie Dixon has a legit injury.

But Watkins, Woods, McCoy, Jackson and Williams? They're not starting Saturday.

Good.

[gebobs]

When you're arguably the best player at a position in history, yeah, I suppose.

These guys? LOL

I hadn't heard about anyone faking though. Are they doing drills in practice? If that's the case, maybe. I'm not sure how important the exhibitions are relative to the practice, but they aren't going to walk into Week 1 ready to roll with the Colts without working on timing, plays, etc. without preseason.

Too many times over the past 15 years, the Bills have not been ready for regular season. I'm afraid this may be another year. Four tough games out of the gate. Will they be ready?

[jamze132]

Why in the **** would we play our offensive stars in these meaningless games? Their positions were locked up when they came to the organization. They may not be the best players in the league but they're the Bills best players and if we are to have a chance, they need to be able to play.

[OpIv37]

This wreaks of desperate homerism. "We don't have injuries piling up already- they're just faking. Yeah, that must be it! I bet Rex even told them to!"

Please.

Also, enough with the comparisons to the early 90's teams when it comes to preseason. First, that group was far more talented than what we have now. Second, it was before FA and in a much more stable environment for this team. It was the same players playing for the same coaches year in and year out. And finally, the CBA was far less restrictive In terms of practices during camp, so they got their work in that way.

Now, guys need to play to be ready.

[Victor7]

I don't think they are faking them. But I could see them exaggerating to some extent to miss some practice.

In any case its better if that's the truth than them being really really hurt. What the F does that say about our health going into week 1 ???

[ParanoidAndroid]

They're not faking injuries. Exaggerating isn't quite appropriate, either. You can say they're being extra cautious and erring on the side of overprotection rather than risking further injury. RB is probably the easiest position to learn and they, traditionally, don't need a lot of reps to perform well. WR worries me a little more because synchronization is gained by repetition. They don't have nearly enough reps with their starting QB due to the WR injuries and the QB carousel.

[justasportsfan]

Ha! I knew Wynn and Powell were faking their injury to throw Brady and Bellicheat off

[gebobs]

Why in the **** would we play our offensive stars in these meaningless games?

I'm no coach but it seems coaches find preseason play at least somewhat important. Brady, both Mannings, Ryan, Flacco, Luck, Wilson, Roethlisberger, and Rivers all played. Lynch, Demarco Murray, Forsett, and Laveon Bell all played.