perhaps some good Tackle news... perhaps.

[Jiggy]

Has anybody addressed why the Okung toe injury happened in the first place? Was it just a freak occurrence? I guess I'd feel better about an injury where there's an obvious cause that can be rectified. Like his first high anke sprain when somebody landed on him (i.e., hopefully nobody gets awkwardly pushed onto him again). I was actually more worried about his second high angle sprain in that San Diego preseason game when he just appeared to be pushing off. Muscle injuries you can help prevent going forward with conditioning, stretching, etc.

John Clayton actually talked about that some on either yesterday's (or the day before's) Wyman, Mike, and Moore Show. He was asked about injuries throughout the NFL -- specifically the seemingly large amount of ACL Tears in the NFL this year. Throughout the NFL, that figure is way up. Kevin Siefert over ESPN put out an interesting piece on that. Here is a snippet ...

At the time I was still seeking out documentation, but I have it now and it's as staggering as you might imagine. The bottom line: 30 players have already been placed on injured reserve this season because of confirmed torn ACLs, a pace that has already exceeded the total for all of 2011 and has nearly done the same for 2012.

That's right. In all of 2011, according to StatsPass.com via ESPN Stats & Information, confirmed ACL injuries sent 25 players to injured reserve. The figure was 32 in 2012. Those numbers do not include players who suffered a torn ACL but were waived/injured rather than placed on injured reserve.

Source:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/95723/inside-slant-big-spike-in-acl-injuries

So, in 2011 (throughout the NFL) there were 25 players that were lost for the season due to ACL injuries.

In 2012, that number jumped to 32 ... and in 2013 (through 10/23 when this piece was written), there were already 30. With Rice going now, make that 31 players lost for the season [and off the top of my head, I'm not sure if there were any others to go down with an ACL tear in Week 8]. Regardless, that's a staggering number. And we're only through Week 8 people!

His theory on why we are seeing this is that this is a direct result of the Collective Bargaining Agreement limiting the amount of conditioning/workouts that teams used to have. In essence, what you might be seeing is that less workouts means those ligaments and tendons simply aren't getting stretched out the way they used to. Result -- increased tears and injuries. Sounds plausible, but who knows. One thing's for sure, the increase in injuries throughout the NFL is certainly alarming.

I think it is the new conditioning rules along with defenders now hitting lower in order to avoid head hits.

 

[oldhawkfan]

Remember when...everyone wanted to boot Breno out the door? Now all anyone wants is him back on the field. Is this a reflection of the current state of the o-line or is he finally a starting caliber RT?

 

[Cartire]

Remember when...everyone wanted to boot Breno out the door? Now all anyone wants is him back on the field. Is this a reflection of the current state of the o-line or is he finally a starting caliber RT?

I've always loved breno. His penalties were what most people didn't like, but it's mostly cause the dude is a thug. Every line needs a thug.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

No doubt, dude is a bruiser w/an attitude, exactly what an O-Lineman should be.

 

[Rocket]

When the focus is saving the head, the knees become targets.
Ya either ring their bells or knock 'em down.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

Atkins makes 32 now

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Titanium skeleton transplants! Make it so!

But I thought "terminators" were illegal in the NFL? :lol:

 

[rastahawk]

You know your o-line is not so great when news of Giacomini practicing again makes everybody giddy.

 

[HawkHack]

Poor McQuisten. He's a halfway decent guard and a great backup for that position. But he has been so outmatched at LT that no one will remember that.

Yeah, I seem to recall most here were fairly happy with his performance at LG last season. He's been a turnstile at LT, no doubt, but isn't that the most difficult position on the O-line? Give the guy a break.

 

[seatownlowdown]

Sup guys. This is my first time posting here, but I've been on different Hawk affiliated forums in the past, mainly ESPNs before they shutdown. My dad actually raised me as a 9er fan (hes just a bandwagon fan imo, Yankees, Celtic fan also lol) ... but honestly I was never interested much in Montana/Rice/Candlestick etc. About the age of 8-10 I started to tear down the posters he had bought me which very much upset him ahah and then followed the Hawks, as bad as they were back then (cant say that about Tez and Easly... beasts.) Joey Galloway is/was my fav Hawk ever.

Remember when...everyone wanted to boot Breno out the door? Now all anyone wants is him back on the field. Is this a reflection of the current state of the o-line or is he finally a starting caliber RT?

Yes, Breno is "starting caliber." However I've never been thoroughly impressed with Breno's ability or occasionally idiocy. He gets beat once or twice in pass protection during the course of the game (Charles Johnson beat him cleanly 3 times in the CAR game this year, for ex.) and sometimes misses run blocks (or just holds). He's also the highest flagged O-ineman in the game I believe. That said he's not terrible like Bowie/McQ. So even though he is "starting caliber" he actually ever was a "good" OT for us. We've called for his head on a platter many a time these last few years, I'm not sure why some of you forget that? Guess we just don't appreciate what we have enough till its gone.

But anyway, these things aside I would STILL gladly have him back considering who's replacing him. Bowie is a project, he should be on the practice squad. He's getting beat by his guy 1/2 the time ffs. Why this team hasn't traded for or signed a LEGIT OT is wayyyyy beyond me. I just don't get it. As great as some of their personnel decisions have been, others just leave me dumbfounded.

*The O-line situation is the whole reason I even felt I had to create an account here to express my disdain... And when Okung/Breno get back its seriously time for Cable etc to officially END the Sweezy experiment. Hes just that terrible this year.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

https://twitter.com/Todd_Dybas/status/3 ... 2264483840

Carroll said he expects Okung and Giacomini to practice Wednesday.

Awesome, so another month until they get back on the field. /sarcasm