Latest injury could spell end for Pennington
This past offseason, Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington(notes) had a sports writer feel both of his shoulders to demonstrate the effects of the two injuries and surgeries he had on his right shoulder from earlier in his career.
When the writer touched the front of Pennington's left (non-throwing) shoulder, the muscles and tendon felt like a normal, solid mass. However, Pennington's right shoulder felt like guitar strings, the area seemingly held together by twine.
Pennington on the sideline during Sunday's game in San Diego.
(Chris Park/AP Photo)
Thus, it should probably come as little more than sad surprise that Pennington suffered yet another major shoulder injury during Sunday's loss against the San Diego Chargers. Barring a stunning turn of events after Pennington visits renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews, the Associated Press' two-time Comeback Player of the Year will be out for the remainder of 2009.
Worse, the hope for a third comeback award might be done as well, two prominent sports doctors said Tuesday morning.
"The prognosis is guarded at best," said Dr. Pete Indelicato, the team doctor for the University of Florida and a former Dolphins physician. "Obviously, there are a number of questions that I don't have the information available to give a solid assessment on, such as, how bad is the tear? … It's not out of the question that he could come back from this injury.
"But if you're talking about someone with two previous surgeries on the shoulder, there's certainly a lot of damage in there that has already been repaired."
Said another doctor who declined to be identified but is aware of Pennington's injuries over the years: "I would never doubt Jimmy Andrews' ability to fix somebody. But, from what I know, this is probably the end of the road. … Like I said, Andrews has done some amazing stuff. Getting [Pennington] back out there twice was great.
"The work he did on Drew Brees(notes), and I've seen the scans on his shoulder, was outstanding. Most of us didn't think Brees would even play in 2006 … but this is different. If it's really [what the Dolphins doctors] think, I don't think he comes back to play."
Pennington's latest setback is a dislocated shoulder, tearing a shoulder capsule in the process. Pennington first hurt the shoulder in 2003, reinjured it in 2004 and missed all but three games in 2005. In both previous injuries, Pennington tore the rotator cuff. The capsule and the rotator cuff work together to maintain stability in the shoulder.
"The rotator cuff and capsule are not unrelated," Indelicato said. "The joint depends on the rotator cuff and the capsule to maintain stability. Otherwise you get a lot of abnormal [movement] in the joint."
Making all of this more problematic is that Pennington, 33, will be a free agent at the end of the season. If you're the general manager of an NFL team, do you invest anything in Pennington as a starter, even with a make-good contract? In most cases, the answer is almost undoubtedly no. Thus, Pennington may be lucky to get some looks as a backup. While that was likely going to be his path anyway, you have to wonder how much Pennington will be willing to endure just for a shot to be a backup.
All of that said, this injury may be a blessing in disguise for the Dolphins. While Pennington was clearly setting the table for second-year quarterback Chad Henne(notes), the team's second-round pick in 2008, Pennington's injury opens the door for the move to Henne faster than it was expected to come.
The Dolphins (0-3), who acquired quarterback Tyler Thigpen from the Kansas City Chiefs on Tuesday, were likely going to wait until they were completely out of the race before giving Henne a chance. Now, Miami can make the move without fear of upsetting the veteran players who were so behind Pennington after he guided the team to an 11-5 record and a spot in the playoffs.
Switching gears: Last week, current Jets guard Damien Woody(notes) didn't think it was possible that his former team could change its ways. Specifically, he didn't see the New England Patriots being able to quickly switch from the wide-open offense they have run for the best part of the past three seasons to more of the plowhorse offense that they ran in the early part of the decade. "To go from being this wide-open, always-in-shotgun, spread offense, to pounding the ball with the running game, that's hard," Woody said. "You can't just turn the switch in the middle of the season and expect that you're going to do that … that kind of mentality has to start in the offseason."
Taylor rushed for a 105 yards on Sunday.
(Winslow Townson/AP Photo)
Yet give the Pats credit for coming up with a game plan that included 39 runs, resulting in 168 yards, in Sunday's win over the Atlanta Falcons. Sure, Tom Brady(notes) still threw 42 passes, but the pass-to-run ratio was the best balance of the year and perhaps a harbinger of things to come as 33-year-old Fred Taylor(notes) showed off some unusually spry moves. That said, the Patriots rolled against an Atlanta team that, despite being 2-0 at the time, hadn't really played that efficiently in the first two weeks of the season. Even more, Atlanta was without rookie defensive tackle Peria Jerry(notes), a key cog in the middle.
Size (of school) doesn't matter: Giants general manager Jerry Reese said he's not one of those personnel guys who subscribes to the notion that players from bigger schools have a better chance to make a quick transition to the league. Reese still has hope that rookie wide receiver Ramses Barden(notes), who attended tiny, beach-town college Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, will have an impact this season. "We document everything, but I feel like Ramses Barden, who played at a small program, if he had a chance to get in a game, he will make some plays. You saw Kevin Boss(notes) a couple of years ago come out. He's playing at Western Oregon one year and the next he's catching a 40-something-yard pass in the Super Bowl. So it doesn't matter where you're from, you just have to make the plays when you're called on. We talk around about playing for January, so the coaches make it a priority to play young guys early in the season. That way, this is not a shock. That's a priority for us because the first time you put them in a game, you understand that sometimes they're going to get overwhelmed by a situation."
Stupid play of the week: Down 13-7 with 10 minutes remaining, Washington Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell(notes) faced a third-and-5 situation at the Detroit 46-yard line. It was one of nine times (outside of the Redskins' final two-minute drive) Campbell dropped to pass on third down. Of those nine, he threw eight and ran once (getting the first down when he ran). On the eight passes, Campbell completed six passes that ended up short of the first down and had another short pass intercepted. In other words, the Redskins consistently showed no guts on third down. The third-and-5 fourth-quarter play to Santana Moss(notes) was emblematic as he got the ball one yard beyond the line of scrimmage and gained another yard before being tackled. That's a recipe for losing football.
Top five
1. New York Giants: New York, New York Super Bowl? Oh God, help us.
2. New Orleans Saints: DC Gregg Williams is the perfect fit with Sean Payton.
3. New York Jets: Dear Mark Sanchez(notes): Don't get cute with the ball, kid.
4. Baltimore Ravens: Joe Flacco(notes) is serious, dude. Real serious.
5. Indianapolis Colts: Holding off the Vikings from No. 5, for now.
Bottom five
28. Carolina Panthers: OK, one of those INTs goes to Steve Smith. How about the other one?
29. St. Louis Rams: At least they put up a fight against the Packers.
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Change the OC and the QB in a span of four weeks. Yikes.
31. Cleveland Browns: Coach Eric Mangini has lost his team after three games.
32. Kansas City Chiefs: To quote Beck: There's a time bomb tickin', tick, tick, tick.
This and that
• Coming back to the Pats for a moment: New England better brace for a really ugly contract showdown with nose tackle Vince Wilfork(notes). One thing that Wilfork knows is that defensive linemen in Bill Belichick's 3-4 system pay a huge physical price. The reason? Unlike in Pittsburgh or other place that play 3-4 and couple it with a primarily one-gap system for the defensive linemen (a system that reduces some of the physical pounding), the Patriots have their linemen play a two-gap style. That means going toe-to-toe with an offensive lineman or two on every play. "It's brutal for those guys because it's a street fight on every play," Woody said.
• For a guy who returned to play in Miami so that he could be with his kids every day, is one of the top charity guys in South Florida and is worthy of at least discussion for the Hall of Fame, Jason Taylor(notes) has some seriously bad karma going. Taylor, who spent the 2008 season in Washington, is 1-21 in his last 22 games with the Dolphins. And he got hurt twice during his one season with the Redskins. Brutal.
•A tip of the cap to Philly sports writer Ray Didinger and radio personality Glen Macnow for their recent release of "The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies". It's a fun read, including a top 100 and lots of interesting features (the foreward by Gene Hackman is very cool). Great stuff for any sports fan and/or move buff.
•To Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz, congratulations. It's only one, but you handled yourself very well in a very emotional situation.
