NFLPA Medical Director: Rash of Camp Injuries Nothing Unusual

Three NFL stars have gone down with torn ACLs in the past two weeks

If it seems like there have been more season-ending injuries than usual this preseason, there haven’t, according to Thom Mayer, the medical director of the NFL Players’ Association.

The Dallas Cowboys lost their best cornerback, Orlando Scandrick, to a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a torn medial cruciate ligament in his right knee this week. The Packers lost their No. 1 receiver Jordy Nelson to a torn ACL last weekend and the Panthers lost their No. 1 receiver Kelvin Benjamin tore his ACL on Aug. 19.

It’s a shame, Mayer acknowledges, but nothing that suggests any new trend is at work.

As a physician, your heart goes out to these guys,” Mayer said, per the Washington Post. “You feel so bad for them. These guys put so much into this and it’s such a letdown for them, for their teams, for the fans. [But] as a research scientist, you have to say, ‘Let’s look at this over time.’ Statistically it doesn’t look like it’s a trend.

“Unless it continues at this pace for some time, it doesn’t look like anything out of the norm. But for each of these guys individually, it’s 100 percent of their experience. It’s a setback professionally and it’s very difficult personally.”

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