The never ending injuries plays as big of a factor as any 2 of the other problems. I suppose if they had potential All pros lined up 3 deep on the depth chart they could withstand 3 or 4 guys at the same position going down but who has that?
Originally Posted by: wpr
Not really!
If Sam Shields goes down and a player with the exact same skills come in; there will be a downgrade in the secondary’s performance. After a few weeks of practicing and playing together, performance will rebound.
It is devastating when some starters are lost and then those left keep coming in and out throughout the year. Having good back-ups is negated to a large degree when there is a different line up every day in games and practice [Because injured [but not out] guys are missing practice to rest/rehab their injuries].
The CBA’s practice time restrictions are killing the game, having only 8 hours per week to practice kills the chance for backups to get reps…KILLS IT. Backups should be allowed for another 1 to 1.5 hours of practice, if they don’t get hardly any reps in main practice.
Hard to police, yes; but take a lesson from baseball. The Braves violated the rules for signing international free agents. The penalty: all the IFAs were released from their contracts; the GM was banned for life and Asst GM suspended 1 year and restrictions on signing IFAs going forward. Carroll or Belichek want to eff with the rules, you suspend them 1 year [lifetime ban for 2nd offense], take away 3 1st round picks and make their 2 best 3rd year players FAs. That’ll do it!