NFL injury report: Just how useful is that news?

Published 11:51 pm Thursday, September 6, 2007

Today should be a very, very important day in the NFL, not because there are any games or even any highly-anticipated roster moves.

What happens today, and every Friday during the regular season now that the league has changed its policy, is that the weekly injury report finally comes out. That could affect game preparations for opposing coaches, betting lines for those who like to wager, and lineups for those fans who like to play fantasy football.

For the NFL circa 2007, Friday should be kind of like Christmas Eve.

But today doesn’t carry quite the importance it might seem.

“Personally, I think (the weekly injury report) has some importance, but I think it’s a bit overblown,” said Matt Waldman, a writer and assistant editor for a fantasy football website called FFtoday.com. “You see it every week, where a (Bill) Belichick or (Mike) Shanahan lists everything from a hangnail to cirrhosis.”

Fantasy footballers, handicappers and even head coaches seem to be in agreement that the weekly injury report no matter when it’s released is not as important as it once was.

“The official injury report meant a whole lot more in the ’70s and ’80s, the pre-internet era,” said handicapper Tim Treshel, an editor for Sportsmemo.com. “Now you can read hundreds of thousands of websites devoted to football to get your information.”

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, whose opinion matters the most, also downplayed the significance of injury reports.

“It’s been my experience over the years in the league that no one really tells the truth,” he said during his weekly press conference. “So I kind of don’t put a lot of stock in any of that stuff until the game starts and you see who’s not playing.”

Holmgren went on to tell a story about a 1994 playoff game against the Detroit Lions. Holmgren’s Green Bay Packers were preparing to play a Lions team that was likely to be without Barry Sanders, who was listed as “doubtful” on the injury report.

“We got reports: doubtful, doubtful, not going to play,” Holmgren said of Sanders. “He came in, rushed for 223 yards.”

While Sanders actually had only 169 rushing yards that day still a Lions postseason record that’s not the point. Holmgren had to learn the hard way that he shouldn’t believe anything he saw on an opposing injury report.

But for casual fans, the report provided valuable information. Wednesday was the day of the week when the league would unveil whether Marshall Faulk was probable (75 percent chance of playing), questionable (50 percent) or doubtful (25 percent). These days, that official designation doesn’t come until Fridays.

The only information teams are required to disclose on Wednesday and Thursday is who doesn’t practice with little specifics as to why.

For example, Wednesday’s injury report for the Seahawks’ opponent, Tampa Bay, had three players listed. Defensive end Patrick Chukwurah was missing because of a knee injury which could conceivably mean anything from a bruise to a torn ACL. Tight end Jerramy Stevens was missing because of something known as a “player decision,” which was official NFL-ese for having to go to court (guess there was a bad “player decision” somewhere along the way). And wide receiver Joey Galloway was out because of a “team decision.”

Not until today does any of that start getting translated into information we can actually use.

When it comes to fantasy football, the new policy seems to be the hardest to take. For example, a fantasy team that is weighing whether to start a hobbled Marc Bulger on a Sunday or a healthy Damon Huard on a Thursday will have to rely mostly on blind faith.

“The biggest thing it’s going to affect it the waiver wire,” said Waldman, the fantasy football expert. “Do you pick up a free agent if you have another player who’s hurt and you’re not sure if he’s going to start?”

Sportsmemo.com’s Trushel said that in his field, handicapping, the injury reports aren’t all that valuable at all. He said he relies more on local newspapers to get information on who and who will not play in games.

“I don’t think it affects when you’re going to make your (bets),” Trushel said of the new policy. “Injury reports aren’t legal documents it’s not like the coach or player is going to be held legally accountable so it’s all speculative anyway.”

To its credit, the NFL has been somewhat forthcoming with injuries over the years at least in theory. There were plenty of coaches who violated the policy, and now they’ll get a couple more days to keep their team’s health problems to themselves.

But as of today, we all get to know if Joey Porter has a probable groin, whether Warren Sapp’s stomach is questionable or whether Joey Harrington’s arm is doubtful. Oh, the things that pique our curious minds.

Scott M. Johnson is The Herald’s pro football writer