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

[Donuts and Doritos]

So now that it's healed he won't suck anymore? 

 

Awesome 

[Simon]

  On 12/14/2023 at 1:38 AM, Allen2Moulds said:

It didn't make sense how bad he looked, in comparison to what we saw last year.

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Yeah, the whole thing was a riddle wrapped in a secret.

Injury made the most sense and they hinted at it, but pretty late in the game, and confirmed it very late in the game.

I wonder if they were being coy with the injury reports early in the season and then decided it was best for everybody to just keep quiet and not draw attention.

I don't know enough about injury reports to know if they had something to worry about.

  On 12/14/2023 at 1:47 AM, Donuts and Doritos said:

So now that it's healed he won't suck anymore? 

 

Awesome 

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Did anybody say it's healed? I don't have the BN.

[strive_for_five_guy]

  On 12/14/2023 at 1:08 AM, NoSaint said:

big boomer energy here

 

would you prefer I said he take the scenic route and chat with the buff news on his way out the door instead of popping on X? 
 

no one thinks “yea it’s been hard playing through a torn ligament so I think I need to get better” is an excuse. Do you think he’s making excuses now? 
 

was just pointing out there was no upside in waiting a month, which is different than your reasons that match up to why he’d not talk today either 

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Was he around for reporters to ask him a month ago?  I don’t see the big deal of him not speaking about it publicly earlier.  Those on the inside that need to know, know.  Why should he have to worry about the court of public opinion so much?

[NoSaint]

  On 12/14/2023 at 1:53 AM, strive_for_five_guy said:

Was he around for reporters to ask him a month ago?  I don’t see the big deal of him not speaking about it publicly earlier.  Those on the inside that need to know, know.  Why should he have to worry about the court of public opinion so much?

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If I’m Elam, and I know GMs are poking around at the trade deadline and seeing me play poorly and benched for the Ghost of McCorners Past - I’d probably prefer they get a quick pulse check that I didn’t forget to play football suddenly, just in case I’m on the market again in a couple months.

 

Coaches in Buffalo aren’t the only ones you want to stay on the radar of if you are in his shoes.

 

Also having fans in your corner tends not to hurt your chances at getting opportunities. 

 

and it’s got to be in some way more positive to get genuine get well soon feedback instead of you are a bum and should be cut feedback 
 

again, not saying it was a dire 5 alarm fire that needed immediate tending or tragic consequence - but no upside to let people sit for another month thinking you washed out

[WotAGuy]

  On 12/14/2023 at 1:26 AM, BuffaloBillyG said:

 

 

Maybe it's time us fans admit we only have a small fraction of knowledge as to why certain decisions are made🤷🏼‍♂️

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I’m glad to see you’ve admitted to this. Recognizing your problems is the first step to recovery. 
 

Fortunately, the rest of us can carry on. 
 

🫡

[Simon]

  On 12/14/2023 at 2:16 AM, WotAGuy said:

Fortunately, the rest of us can carry on. 

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and on, and on, and on.......

[Saint Doug]

  On 12/14/2023 at 12:27 AM, 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.

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This still doesn’t make sense. If he has an injury that is severely limiting his ability to effective play or play at the level he is expected to, then you declare the injury and place him on IR. He comes back when he’s medically cleared and able to play. None of this double-speak by McD about playing the players who give them the best chance to win. None of the constant questions by reporters. What did they expect? We have a 1st rounder who showed much promise last year to then fall off a cliff his 2nd year and were only hearing about this now??

[LABILLBACKER]

  On 12/14/2023 at 2:24 AM, Saint Doug said:

This still doesn’t make sense. If he has an injury that is severely limiting his ability to effective play or play at the level he is expected to, then you declare the injury and place him on IR. He comes back when he’s medically cleared and able to play. None of this double-speak by McD about playing the players who give them the best chance to win. None of the constant questions by reporters. What did they expect? We have a 1st rounder who showed much promise last year to then fall off a cliff his 2nd year and were only hearing about this now??

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I agree...they could've easily avoided all the secrecy and innuendos by just telling the truth about his ankle and put him on IR.  I still believe once healed he's going to contribute. 

[Freddie's Dead]

If he was that injured, the team handled the whole situation very poorly.  He should have been IR'd at the beginning of the season.  This is Belichick level of messing with the injury report.

[RiotAct]

  On 12/14/2023 at 2:29 AM, LABILLBACKER said:

I agree...they could've easily avoided all the secrecy and innuendos by just telling the truth about his ankle and put him on IR.  I still believe once healed he's going to contribute. 

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I think this explanation makes a lot of sense…  mis-diagnosis and him (and the coaches) thinking he could play through it.

  On 12/14/2023 at 12:27 AM, Beck Water said:

 

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

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[Einstein]

Um, wouldn’t this mean the Bills/Elam broke NFL rules about reporting injuries?

Elam wasn’t on the injury report with an ankle until late October.

 

I’m skeptical…

[Gugny]

Proud graduate of the McDermott School of Accountability!

 

 

[Saint Doug]

  On 12/14/2023 at 2:32 AM, Freddie's Dead said:

If he was that injured, the team handled the whole situation very poorly.  He should have been IR'd at the beginning of the season.  This is Belichick level of messing with the injury report.

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My guess is this is just one side of the story and the truth is somewhere in the middle. If a player is truly injured and is not medically cleared, then I think the team has to disclose it and place him on IR. That didn’t happen. So, he must’ve been medically cleared. It may be the case of the team saying go out and play and Elam saying he can’t. 

  On 12/14/2023 at 2:35 AM, Einstein said:

Um, wouldn’t this mean the Bills/Elam broke NFL rules about reporting injuries?

Elam wasn’t on the injury report with an ankle until late October.

 

I’m skeptical…

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I’m skeptical as well. He may very well have sustained an injury, but when it resolved is probably a point of contention between Elam and the team. 

[LABILLBACKER]

  On 12/14/2023 at 2:35 AM, Einstein said:

Um, wouldn’t this mean the Bills/Elam broke NFL rules about reporting injuries?

Elam wasn’t on the injury report with an ankle until late October.

 

I’m skeptical…

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There's alot of grey area tactics NFL teams play regarding injuries. This year we saw the Bengals not report Joe's wrist.  The Bills can just plead his original ankle issue wasn't a tear?  It's obviously not right but it happens frequently.  

[Einstein]

  On 12/14/2023 at 2:40 AM, LABILLBACKER said:

There's alot of grey area tactics NFL teams play regarding injuries. This year we saw the Bengals not report Joe's wrist.  The Bills can just plead his original ankle issue wasn't a tear?  It's obviously not right but it happens frequently.  

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But even if it wasn’t a tear at the time, any injury is supposed to be reported. 

 

“All players who have reportable injuries must be listed on the Practice Report, even if the player takes all the reps in practice, and even if the team is certain that he will play in the upcoming game.”

 

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

[Maynard]

Fake news.

[Simon]

  On 12/14/2023 at 2:44 AM, Einstein said:

 

But even if it wasn’t a tear at the time, any injury is supposed to be reported. 

 

“All players who have reportable injuries must be listed on the Practice Report, even if the player takes all the reps in practice, and even if the team is certain that he will play in the upcoming game.”

 

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

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Maybe the rule is worded so that you only have to report injuries for active players?

If you already know a guy is going to be inactive, you don't have to say squat about it?

[Freddie's Dead]

  On 12/14/2023 at 2:37 AM, Saint Doug said:

My guess is this is just one side of the story and the truth is somewhere in the middle. If a player is truly injured and is not medically cleared, then I think the team has to disclose it and place him on IR. That didn’t happen. So, he must’ve been medically cleared. It may be the case of the team saying go out and play and Elam saying he can’t. 

I’m skeptical as well. He may very well have sustained an injury, but when it resolved is probably a point of contention between Elam and the team. 

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Either way, the team botched it.  Badly.

[Einstein]

  On 12/14/2023 at 2:50 AM, Simon said:

 

Maybe the rule is worded so that you only have to report injuries for active players?

If you already know a guy is going to be inactive, technically you don't have to say squat about it?

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Hmm, good question. I’ll dig more.

 

Could explain why they kept him inactive.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

  On 12/14/2023 at 12:35 AM, 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?

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That’s what I thought too