Preseason football comes with an uncountable number of boring stretches, but that boredom is still a lot better than the worst part of the NFL’s unique version of fake football—training camp injuries. They’re absolutely inevitable, and they’re beyond frustrating in the special way they take away hope.
Some are way worse than others, so we’ll take a Debbie Downer look at the three that will impact the NFL season the most. We’re keeping the list as short as possible in the hope that it will give us some good karma going into that final third preseason game.
JJ McCarthy “leads” the pack for NFL injuries
This one hurts the most, especially given how unnecessary it was. While most of the teams that drafted their new QB elected for a short stint in their preseason openers, the Vikings elected to give McCarthy an extended cameo that started poorly, then went well for a bit until the inevitable happened and NFL reality hit the Michigan product.
It’s the way this went down that makes it especially painful. According to multiple reports, McCarthy reported knee soreness well before his stint ended, but Minnesota decided to let him tough it out and play through the pain. That pain was due to a torn meniscus, and now McCarthy is gone for the year because the Vikes have to go with the safer complete surgery to protect his career.
Minnesota got what they wanted from McCarthy, who threw two touchdown passes after posting a bad pick early. But the price of admission is a year of Sam Darnold as their starter, and Jets fans can tell you what that’s probably going to be like.
Matt Milano and the Sean McDermott problem
This is the other major injury that really stings. Matt Milano is one of those gutsy guys who gives Buffalo’s defense an edge, and the torn bicep he sustained will keep him out for several months, according to reports.
This is especially bad news for coach Sean McDermott, who enters this season as an under-the-radar hot-seat guy. McDermott is already taking criticism for the lack of wideouts and weapons with Stefon Diggs now a Texan, and if his defense collapses the way it did when Milano got hurt last year, he may not make it through another brutal Buffalo winter. Which would definitely be one of those “good news, bad news” deals.
Don’t sleep on a Christian McCaffrey injury
This one’s more speculative. On the surface, McCaffrey’s calf strain doesn’t look all that bad. He’ll go into the NFL’s version of witness protection for the rest of the preseason, and none of the preliminary reports indicate that this will affect his status for San Francisco’s home opener against the Jets.
The concern here is McCaffrey’s history. He’s been able to stay remarkably healthy as a 49er, but you have to wonder if San Francisco is living on borrowed time with their uber-productive running back. Carolina punted on keeping McCaffrey because he was expensive and seemingly always nicked up, and age 28 is typically the beginning of the downward slope for running backs who handle the kind of workload the 49ers dual-threat star has taken so far.
Another issue is that San Francisco’s running back depth isn’t what it used to be.
The 49ers had a good thing going when they had the explosive Raheem Mostert to back up McCaffrey, but Elijah Mitchell averaged just 3.7 yards a carry last year. Those Brock Purdy RPOs won’t be nearly as effective without a running back who can make hay and get good yardage, but hopefully, McCaffrey can weather the storm and play a full, productive season.