Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam says he tore ankle ligament in preseason and tried to play through it

[HOUSE]

 

Buffalo Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam told The Buffalo News after Wednesday’s walk-through that a torn deltoid ligament in his ankle forced him to injured reserve on Nov. 2.

The deltoid ligament is the main ligament of the inner ankle.

 

https://buffalonews.com/sports/buffalo-bills-kaiir-elam-injury-torn-ligament-nfl/article_740f0eda-99f5-11ee-b3ab-abe44fea143b.html#tncms-source=login

 

[NoSaint]

I just don’t get why he’d wait so long to tell the story 

[somnus00]

That would explain why he looked so stiff switching from the back pedal to running with the receiver. I thought maybe he had a hip injury. But if you can't plant your foot and turn, your fluidity is gone and you'll lose a few steps trying to cover your guy.

[Beck Water]

1 minute ago, NoSaint said:

I just don’t get why he’d wait so long to tell the story 

 

This isn't pretty: players target their opponents injuries. 

For that reason, players who are dinged up don't want to show on the injury report unless they miss enough practice that the league requires it of them.  Players who are actually injured don't want to disclose specifics of their injuries.

 

Plus, all that aside, some players like to preserve their medical privacy.

 

I wonder if it originally wasn't diagnosed as torn, or if it was only slightly torn but then tore worse.

[strive_for_five_guy]

3 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

I just don’t get why he’d wait so long to tell the story 

Tried to play through it, maybe didn’t want to tip off the opponents or sound like he was making excuses.

[DapperCam]

Well don’t we all look like a bunch of pricks.

[fergie's ire]

This actually does make a lot of sense.  I could get that he never learned to play zone effectively but what was weird is that his man skill had regressed to the point where he didn't seem to be able to cover anyone. An injury would explain the regression.

 

[boyst]

6 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

I just don’t get why he’d wait so long to tell the story 

Was anyone talking to him?  Maybe he was afraid of being cut, who knows 

[Warcodered]

2 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

This isn't pretty: players target their opponents injuries. 

For that reason, players who are dinged up don't want to show on the injury report unless they miss enough practice that the league requires it of them.  Players who are actually injured don't want to disclose specifics of their injuries.

 

Plus, all that aside, some players like to preserve their medical privacy.

 

I wonder if it originally wasn't diagnosed as torn, or if it was only slightly torn but then tore worse.

But we never even found out when he went on IR, the whole situation was handled so strange. 

[NoSaint]

2 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

This isn't pretty: players target their opponents injuries. 

For that reason, players who are dinged up don't want to show on the injury report unless they miss enough practice that the league requires it of them.  Players who are actually injured don't want to disclose specifics of their injuries.

 

Plus, all that aside, some players like to preserve their medical privacy.

 

I wonder if it originally wasn't diagnosed as torn, or if it was only slightly torn but then tore worse.

he’s been on IR for weeks. Are they going to track him down at home to target it? 
 

[BarleyNY]

1 minute ago, NoSaint said:

he’s been on IR for weeks. Are they going to track him down at home to target it? 
 

 

Not that I care personally, but wouldn’t the Bills be in violation of league rules for not including this on injury reports?

[Beck Water]

Just now, NoSaint said:

he’s been on IR for weeks. Are they going to track him down at home to target it?

 

I was responding to why Elam might not have wanted to disclose his pre-season injury while he was still trying to play through it.

 

I'm really unsure what you're getting at here.  Are you suggesting that reporters should track an injured player down at home or stake out the entrance to the Bills sports medicine facility and jump him to get a story?  That sounds kind of creepy and stalker-ish to me.

 

 Injured players aren't required to be in the areas of the building accessible to the press, they're not required to make themselves available to the press.

 

 

[NoSaint]

1 minute ago, Beck Water said:

 

I was responding to why Elam might not have wanted to disclose his pre-season injury while he was still trying to play through it.

 

I'm really unsure what you're getting at here.  Are you suggesting that reporters should track an injured player down at home or stake out the entrance to the Bills sports medicine facility and jump him to get a story?  That sounds kind of creepy and stalker-ish to me.

 

 Injured players aren't required to be in the areas of the building accessible to the press, they're not required to make themselves available to the press.

 

 

im saying if I’m Elam getting benched for Norman that within 5 minutes I’m on Twitter declaring the serious nature of the injury at play 

 

your response is one of the more bizarre I’ve gotten in 15 or so years here 

Edited December 14, 2023 by NoSaint

[thenorthremembers]

12 minutes ago, DapperCam said:

Well don’t we all look like a bunch of pricks.

Not the 1st time, frankly will not be the last.

[strive_for_five_guy]

6 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

im saying if I’m Elam getting benched for Norman that within 5 minutes I’m on Twitter declaring the serious nature of the injury at play 

 

your response is one of the more bizarre I’ve gotten in 15 or so years here 

Maybe he didn’t care what the outside world thought, or didn’t want to come off as making excuses.  Those are just a couple reasons I can think of as to not just run to social media.

[pennstate10]

18 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

This isn't pretty: players target their opponents injuries. 

For that reason, players who are dinged up don't want to show on the injury report unless they miss enough practice that the league requires it of them.  Players who are actually injured don't want to disclose specifics of their injuries.

 

Plus, all that aside, some players like to preserve their medical privacy.

 

I wonder if it originally wasn't diagnosed as torn, or if it was only slightly torn but then tore worse.

Yup.  All NHL fans know the rule of diagonals. 
 

If team says a player has a right upper body injury, you can bet it’s really a left lower body injury. 

[Alphadawg7]

Another reason why it was too soon to give up on Elam.  I still think he has a future here

[Success]

I mean, we saw him last season - the guy could play.  Didn't look like the same player this year at all, and it's kind of a relief knowing that it was more injury-related than anything.

 

Looking forward to seeing him play healthy again, and being a big contributor for this team.

 

[4th&long]

24 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

But we never even found out when he went on IR, the whole situation was handled so strange. 

They all are. Does anyone know exactly what happened to Matt Milano? 

[Beck Water]

3 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

 

Not that I care personally, but wouldn’t the Bills be in violation of league rules for not including this on injury reports?

 

Depends on if they knew the specifics and extent of the injury. If they didn't, perhaps?  The NFL has weasel wording in there defining whether or not an injury is "reportable".  If the injury limits the player's participation in practice or for a game, it's reportable.  If it's to a "key player", it's reportable. 

 

Otherwise, if it doesn't impact the player's ability to participate in practice or cause him to miss a game, apparently not.

 

You can read about it here if you like, weasel words and all

https://operations.nfl.com/media/2683/2017-nfl-injury-report-policy.pdf

 

Elam showed up on the injury report Week 7 (NWE) and Week 8 (TAM), and then went on IR week 9.  I can easily see a scenario where Elam was reporting to the training room for treatment on "ankle soreness" and getting PT, but wasn't getting better or even got worse after playing near the whole game vs. Jax Wk 5 and the whole game vs the Giants Wk 6, so they sent him for another MRI and a surgical consult.