Dave’s Football Blog

Last year, the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets were doomed when their starting quarterbacks got hurt during preseason games and missed several months. This year, Michael Vick and Chad Pennington are healthy and playing well, and their teams are both 2-0.

The injury bug is starting to hit other teams, though, starting with the Cleveland Browns, who have lost rookie tight end Kellen Winslow, Jr., for eight weeks after he broke his leg during an onside kick attempt in Dallas on Sunday. John Clayton reports that this injury could cost Winslow more than $5 million in incentive bonuses. The Browns have already lost running back Lee Suggs for two weeks with a neck stinger. Show me a happy person in Cleveland today, and I’ll show you a Jets fan.

One person who doesn’t need any more financial incentive is Colts RB Edgerrin James, who’s playing in the last year of his contract this season. James may miss next Sunday’s game against Green Bay, though, because of a hamstring injury suffered during his game-clinching 30-yard touchdown run against the Titans. Granted, Indy is facing Brett Favre in a dome, so they might not need James as much next week.

Nor might the Steelers need QB Tommy Maddox, who’s out for six weeks with ligament damage in his right elbow. Rookie Ben Roethlisberger will start, but given his performance in relief of Maddox last week, that might not be so bad. The Miami Dolphins will put pressure on Big Ben and force him into throwing more interceptions, but there’s even more pressure on Dolphins QB A.J. Feeley to perform right now, what with the Dolphins being 0-2 and losing starting defensive tackle Larry Chester for the rest of the season with torn knee ligaments. The Dolphins luck right now looks a lot like my recent luck at tournament poker.

Of course, it’s still not as bad the New Orleans Saints’ luck over the last 30 years. The Saints, who just barely beat a pitiful San Francisco 49ers team that looked a little better with Ken Dorsey at QB, will be without the services of RB Deuce McAllister for up to 5 weeks after he sprained his ankle on the third play of the game. It’s the same ankle he hurt two years ago, and it’s in worse shape now than it was then. The Saints now have Aaron Stecker and Ki-Jana Carter at running back. Aaron Brooks may have to pass a lot more for a few weeks.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys already-weak running game became worse with the news that rookie RB Julius Jones would miss two months with a broken shoulder blade. Last week on the Jim Rome Show, former Cowboys RB and Hall-of-Famer Tony Dorsett suggested that it might be a “very long season” for the Cowboys. Jones’ injury may only make it a little longer.

Finally, the Chicago Bears lost their Johnny-on-the-spot, safety Mike Brown, for the rest of this season with a torn Achilles tendon. Brown scooped up a fumble by Ahman Green and returned it 95 yards for a TD on Sunday, which sparked the Bears’ upset win over the Packers in Green Bay. The Bears were already marginal as it was. Losing one of their best defensive players surely won’t help.

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