Red Raider Gridiron :: Injuries Hit and Lewis Injured in 2009

Here’s hoping Whitlock and Wade have a full recovery during the summer. We need those guys.

Lewis took a big step down in my book. He could have said he fought a nagging injury all year without playing the blame game. Apparently he knows better than all the team’s medical staff, or is he just making excuses for his own shortcomings. I’ve never seen a situation where a bad attitude did anything but hinder a player on the field. Cumbers remarks seem to reinforce the notion that Lewis has an attitude problem.

I don’t think it was just the face paint that fueled all the reports of NFL scouts seeing Carter as being a potential troublemaker. Perhaps Detron should take note.

Guys play hurt all the time. Most of them want back in the game, regardless of the status of their injury. It is up to them to tell the staff if they can’t go or how serious the pain is.

I agree with TechFirst. He could have said it was bothering him and affected his play. But to imply that he was forced to play and totally abdicate responsibility sounds like he never left high school. Sure, coaches want their best guys on the field (the one’s who give the team the best chance of winning). It’s easy to say I would have been better if I was 100%. But the staff obviously thought he gave the team the best chance to win, even if the hamstring was nagging him. If he think s it was really dragging him down that much, he should have talked to and worked with the trainers to get better.

And I agree, Cumbie’s comment is pretty back-handed.

These aren’t nicks and cuts, these are Spring ending (more severe?) injuries.

Detron needs to get in touch with his INNER PIRATE, gut it up and shit or get off the pot. Crabtree played hurt, Harrell played hurt, Sheffield and Potts played hurt. Detron is a puss needing to make excuses for lack of effort IMO.

Throwing Captain under the bus does not good for anyone.

we need these guys. I hope they recover quickly.

We knew he was injured from the A and M game in in ’08 yet instead of making excuses he just went out and won the biggest game in school history. Everyone has always tried to compare the two. I guess that is the difference. Is Detron pre-med? I thought maybe he had information that would overrule the training staff allowing him to play.

I found it interesting to learn in my School Law class that it is illegal to reveal information on a student/players health status without their consent. To the point that Mack Brown was threatend with his job after commenting on a hamstring pull Roy Williams had in a game while at ut. I have bever understood why anyone would comment on injuries anyway. All you do is give you opponents less to worry about.

Finally if all the players that were dinged up were told to sit out last year until the were completely healthy, The Goin’ Band would have to suit up.

I think it is really odd that there quite a few players questioning the previous coaching staff (based on many interviews since the transition). I agree that some players can play hurt (depending on position) and be OK. Not sure if wide receiver is one of those. Yes, Crabtree did play hurt, but he was little more than a decoy (which the opposing teams realized) the final three games of his Tech career. Probably should make sure people that are hurt are well enough to play effectively… if not we have plenty of receivers. It will be interesting to see how Lewis does this year. (if his claims are true or not.) Stay tuned……

The weather folks have raised the chance of rain to 50% for the weekend. Looks like it might be getting a little humid in Lubbock as we speak.

Re: Mays -

I think the move inside might be because he’s started to get lost a bit behind our other outside players: Torres and Franks on one side and Ward and Leong (the Leaper) on the other. I always thought his height and speed suited him more on the inside as it is.

Re: Wade -

He’ll be back, just twisted his knee. I think Tubs said last night that he’s looking at about 2 weeks out. Just enough time to miss the Spring game.

Hopefully we get the injury bug out of the way this spring.

I would regard him as "

one of your best players

No offense to Detron, or the numbers he puts up. But I have to say that we will be relying on guys like Torres. I hope that he gets well and puts up good numbers for us, but please don’t claim yourself as one of our best players and not have any evidence of it.

Is it just me or have we heard more about injuries this year than any other year? I’m getting nervous that some of our key players are going to warming the bench this year nursing battle wounds. I guess like jehato said “we have a coaching staff that is willing to let everybody know.” I’m hoping for the best!

I heard from a Tech player that is in spring training that Spring training is
way more intense and disciplined this year under tuberville.
Lots more conditioning and more intense practicing.
Under leach it was way more relaxed.
I see it as a good thing although the downfall is the injuries.
I hope fall practice doesn’t also create more injuries to key players.

I don’t buy it. This guy may have been hurt to some minor degree but his performance was way below his capability and I think this is widely known. I feel like he is making excuses and it’s great timing now that the old regime is gone. I saw him running full speed last season and dropping passes and missing routes. I do think he has what it takes but I think he missed his shot when Crabtree left. Torres and Ward will take over now and put forth the effort that our AIR RAID offense demands. This may seem a little harsh but I just hate it when players assume all the coach(es) are blind to injuries. I’m fairly sure they all knew how valueable Detron was in ‘09 and would not have jeopardised his health. In the end the Potts factor didn’t help his game either.

Agree with your point about the timing now that the old staff is gone. Pretty easy to talk and know that there ins’t anyone left to question your comments.
I don’t know the extent of his injury, but I do know he didn’t perform up to his potential.

But he’s kinda painted himself in to a corner. Now that he is “healthy”, he pretty much just raised everyone’s expectations on how he should perform next season. Not sure he realized he was doing that, but that is the result. If you say you were hindered last season, then we should see significant improvement this season. Right???

Attitude: My impression from Detron from practice, play, and his comments are that he is a “Dez Bryant” esque premadonna. Sunny is a straight shooting coach, and his subtle hints that Detron is less than compliant are not really a surprise.

Injury:Coaches are not gong to play an injuried player if his injury is such that he is a detriment to the team. Given the number of trainers and Docs associated with the team, conducting functional movement assesments on these injury players, I doubt seriously that a no-go reccomendation was made but ignored, on Detron or anyone else. If Detron should have sat out, it would have been less about a performance limiting injury, and more about a performance limiting attitude.

What does it say about the staff:IMO opinion it says the same thing I thought it said in December. I have contended there are more than two sides to this story. There are the the admin was right folks (small and creepy group), there are the “damn the admin, Leach can do no wrong folks”, and then you have the camp that disagrees with what the admin did, but doesn’t ignore that all of this did uncover a signifigant problems within the 2009 team. This is my camp at the moment. This unneccasary outburst by Detron says less about injury’s and says more about how the prior staff lost touch with what appears to be an increasing number of it’s players, both scrubs and stars alike. This only strengthens my opinion that if leach should have been on the hot seat, it had nothing to do with Adam James, and everything to do with what the hell was going on in that locker room in 2009.

“We’re all just going to continue working technique,” he said. "Watching film, having an install every day. You just try to keep it fresh because you can’t be relearning when fall comes because in three games we’re going to play Texas.

We’ve got to come in it running, hitting the ground running in the fall."

Is it just me or does it appear the players, maybe by extension of the staff, have circled a particular game three weeks in? God I hope these kids bring a new level of intensity to that game. I don’t just want to beat UT this year…….I want to “run rule” these tea sips. I want to hand Mack his worst defeat in the Big 12.

i think I mentioned this a time or to in APR (after practice reports), but Mays seems to be mvoing along slower than the others. Lot’s of dropped balls, less playing time. Given that Mays seems to be quite a bit smaller (both height and weight) than guys like Leong and Ward, maybe the move is to be be taller or more physical on the outside, and smaller and more ellusive over the middle.

That was nuts he was running around getting chased on one leg. When the mistreatment story broke, before we knew who, I thought it was Sticks

I think the Captain did a fair amount of that. Sonny’s comments are far more subtle than a desk on the practice field or fat little girlfriends.

Regarding the thought that Leach’s practices were less intense, could it be that he knew he didn’t have the depth to replace injured starters and saved what he had for the regular season? Doing more with less?

When does a football player ever feel 100%?

When Graham Harrell played against Oklahoma and Baylor with a broken hand, was ihe being heroic or foolish?

When Michael Crabtree played the last three games of the year on one leg, was he a fool for jeapordizing his NFL career or a courageous warrior for supporting his team?

When Potts got blind-sided against UT, was he displaying bravery for trying to get back onto the field, or were the trainers negligent for letting him return?

Who determines what is brave and what is foolish?

You?

Me?

This is not a black and white issue now, nor has it ever been.

It is reckless for us lay people or uninformed journalists to second guess these matters.

The trainers and medical professionals have a system of evaluating a players’ health. There are multiple signoffs. There is peer review designed to improve decision making. If this system needs to be improved, I am all for it. Players should be protected at all times.

Football is a violent sport fraught with risk. These players are adults. They know from the time they are in junior high exactly what type of risks they are taking.

I hate to single out players, because they are still such young men, but it seems that a certain number of our players should look at those who came before him, and reflect on what attributes made those players great.

You’ve been listening to Gordo too much in the morning Seth.

That wasn’t so hard, now was it?

The funniest thing about the quote (paraphrased): “I was hurt for the Texas game, but I wanted to play in that. It was the games after that I wanted to rest.”

Dude, if you’re seriously injured, you don’t insist on playing the game nearest the time of injury & then kick back for the games you don’t care about. Are you hurt or aren’t you?

I think the injuries are a direct fallout of the level of hitting being allowed. I suppose Tubs can talk about conditioning but when aggressive folks are trying to impress new Coaches so they can get on the field things will happen. Well the new regime now gets to rehab 4-5 starters or potential starters all summer. As well as condition the living devil out of them. Just saying be careful what you ask for..

Hes okay “and wanted” to play texas, because it was texas…but the rest of the season, he shouldnt of

and I have not read them all…I am not able…just returned from a nice party on the block and an entertaining afternoon with my Glen McGregor drinking friend next door.

I read the piece about Lewis and did not try to analize or parse the words, he was injured and not playing to his best. He may be able to play much better next round. I look forward to seeing that happen, that is all.

Cripes who, at this point, with all the devisive reports and comment can tell who or what the Fall team will look like? If you think you can, I am almost willing to bet otherwise.

Lewis, for example, is a guy who has very good skills on offense…we have all seen him do very well at times. Then we see some kind of what-happened-with-him stuff…if an injury is a reasonable explanation, then that is good enough for me…I don’t care the the why’s or who’s or deeper ‘analysis’—non of which is based on other than speculation and inuendo.

I think Lewis can be a very good reciever at Y and one who can make impact during the season…that is all.

If I recall, the majority of those here on DTN were 100% behind McNeil when he had the players making more contact and playing harder and faster than the previous DC. Now, it is said that the team is practicing and hitting harder than what even McNeil had them doing. There were plenty of injuries back then, there are plenty of injuries now. That happens when you practice and hit hard in practice and in games. The thing is that the injuries will heal by the time two-a-days roll around, with a lot of conditioning work going on until then, just like when McNeil was here. The same holds for the offense. They are hitting and playing harder, too. Some of the injuries are for those reasons, some are just weird (re: Whitlock and Sticks). All coaches tend to play their better players even if they have nagging injuries. That holds true in all sports, not just football. And not just college sports, either. Regardless of what an injury is or how it affects, or may affect, a player’s performance, when he or she is competing, each and every athlete must give all he/she has at all times, because one never knows when something great will happen just because a person guts it out and plays as hard as possible. No excuses. No pointing fingers. Do what you are trained to do. If unable to do that, one SHOULD be intelligent and humble enough to ask for a healing period of time, determined by the medical staff, not the head coach, player or family member. If all players for Tech can be healthy come September, the Red Raiders should field a very good team. We don’t know how good they will be, yet, but it will sure be a lot of fun to watch them play and to scream my lungs out as they represent my school, always hoping for the best and for no injuries, to Tech players or to any opponents; just good, solid, in-your-face competition. WRECK ’EM, TECH!

Those bad men coaches made me play through pain wah wah wah!!!

Does he not realize that once conference play begins in earnest, NO ONE is 100% healthy? Everyone has nicks and cuts and bruises, but they play through them. Regardless of his injury, him complaining about not being 100% is just pathetic. Whining about the former coaching staff and blaming them for your failure to be productive is bush league, period.