Few teams avoiding injury bug
In the next few weeks, most of their remaining offensive linemen went down, along with backups and backups to backups. Quarterback Marc Bulger and running back Steven Jackson also went out, and the Rams started 0-8.
So it was no surprise that after they won their first game two weeks ago with three offensive linemen who had been picked up off the street, coach Scott Linehan quipped: "We didn't have an O-lineman scheduled for surgery. That's an improvement."
The Rams are the classic example of how injuries kill in the modern NFL, where lack of depth is legislated — the salary cap doesn't allow teams to stockpile first-class reserves behind starters.
It wasn't that way before the advent of free agency and the salary cap in 1993, when teams that scouted and drafted well often had backups who could start elsewhere and could be plugged in if a starter went down.
Look at the 49ers, who from 1987-90 had Steve Young as a backup to Joe Montana, one future Hall of Famer caddying for another.
In 1990, the New York Giants lost quarterback Phil Simms and replaced him with Jeff Hostetler, who was in his sixth season with the team. In his early years, he was so starved for action he persuaded Bill Parcells to play him on special teams and as a spare wide receiver. But he was a good enough QB to step in for Simms, lead the team to the Super Bowl and then win it.
The same process worked for a lot of teams in the pre-free-agency era; the Redskins used to stockpile players on "injured reserve," winning Super Bowls after the 1983, 1987 and 1991 seasons with three different QBs, the last with Mark Rypien, one of those held in reserve until needed.
No one can do that these days.
When Jacksonville lost David Garrard for three games, it had to go with Quinn Gray, a third-string quarterback in his first two seasons. Gray started three games and won two, but Garrard's return last week was clearly a needed lift for the Jaguars' offense.
Houston started 2-0, then lost wide receiver Andre Johnson with a knee injury. The Texans were 2-5 during his absence, then beat New Orleans last week as he returned with six catches for 120 yards, including a 73-yard TD.
Even a team as good as Indianapolis can't afford to lose stars.
With Marvin Harrison playing the first six games, Peyton Manning had 11 TD passes and three interceptions and the Colts were unbeaten. Harrison has missed the past five, the Colts are 3-2 and Manning has thrown for eight touchdowns with nine interceptions.
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