Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam says he tore ankle ligament in preseason and tried to play through it

[Donuts and Doritos]

So now that it's healed he won't suck anymore? 

 

Awesome 

[Simon]

6 minutes ago, Allen2Moulds said:

It didn't make sense how bad he looked, in comparison to what we saw last year.

 

Yeah, the whole thing was a riddle wrapped in a secret.

Injury made the most sense and they hinted at it, but pretty late in the game, and confirmed it very late in the game.

I wonder if they were being coy with the injury reports early in the season and then decided it was best for everybody to just keep quiet and not draw attention.

I don't know enough about injury reports to know if they had something to worry about.

2 minutes ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

So now that it's healed he won't suck anymore? 

 

Awesome 

 

Did anybody say it's healed? I don't have the BN.

[strive_for_five_guy]

43 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

big boomer energy here

 

would you prefer I said he take the scenic route and chat with the buff news on his way out the door instead of popping on X? 
 

no one thinks “yea it’s been hard playing through a torn ligament so I think I need to get better” is an excuse. Do you think he’s making excuses now? 
 

was just pointing out there was no upside in waiting a month, which is different than your reasons that match up to why he’d not talk today either 

Was he around for reporters to ask him a month ago?  I don’t see the big deal of him not speaking about it publicly earlier.  Those on the inside that need to know, know.  Why should he have to worry about the court of public opinion so much?

[NoSaint]

15 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

Was he around for reporters to ask him a month ago?  I don’t see the big deal of him not speaking about it publicly earlier.  Those on the inside that need to know, know.  Why should he have to worry about the court of public opinion so much?

If I’m Elam, and I know GMs are poking around at the trade deadline and seeing me play poorly and benched for the Ghost of McCorners Past - I’d probably prefer they get a quick pulse check that I didn’t forget to play football suddenly, just in case I’m on the market again in a couple months.

 

Coaches in Buffalo aren’t the only ones you want to stay on the radar of if you are in his shoes.

 

Also having fans in your corner tends not to hurt your chances at getting opportunities. 

 

and it’s got to be in some way more positive to get genuine get well soon feedback instead of you are a bum and should be cut feedback 
 

again, not saying it was a dire 5 alarm fire that needed immediate tending or tragic consequence - but no upside to let people sit for another month thinking you washed out

[WotAGuy]

48 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

 

 

Maybe it's time us fans admit we only have a small fraction of knowledge as to why certain decisions are made🤷🏼‍♂️

I’m glad to see you’ve admitted to this. Recognizing your problems is the first step to recovery. 
 

Fortunately, the rest of us can carry on. 
 

🫡

[Simon]

1 minute ago, WotAGuy said:

Fortunately, the rest of us can carry on. 

 

and on, and on, and on.......

[Saint Doug]

1 hour ago, Beck Water said:

 

This isn't pretty: players target their opponents injuries. 

For that reason, players who are dinged up don't want to show on the injury report unless they miss enough practice that the league requires it of them.  Players who are actually injured don't want to disclose specifics of their injuries.

 

Plus, all that aside, some players like to preserve their medical privacy.

 

I wonder if it originally wasn't diagnosed as torn, or if it was only slightly torn but then tore worse.

This still doesn’t make sense. If he has an injury that is severely limiting his ability to effective play or play at the level he is expected to, then you declare the injury and place him on IR. He comes back when he’s medically cleared and able to play. None of this double-speak by McD about playing the players who give them the best chance to win. None of the constant questions by reporters. What did they expect? We have a 1st rounder who showed much promise last year to then fall off a cliff his 2nd year and were only hearing about this now??

[LABILLBACKER]

3 minutes ago, Saint Doug said:

This still doesn’t make sense. If he has an injury that is severely limiting his ability to effective play or play at the level he is expected to, then you declare the injury and place him on IR. He comes back when he’s medically cleared and able to play. None of this double-speak by McD about playing the players who give them the best chance to win. None of the constant questions by reporters. What did they expect? We have a 1st rounder who showed much promise last year to then fall off a cliff his 2nd year and were only hearing about this now??

I agree...they could've easily avoided all the secrecy and innuendos by just telling the truth about his ankle and put him on IR.  I still believe once healed he's going to contribute. 

[Freddie's Dead]

If he was that injured, the team handled the whole situation very poorly.  He should have been IR'd at the beginning of the season.  This is Belichick level of messing with the injury report.

[RiotAct]

4 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

I agree...they could've easily avoided all the secrecy and innuendos by just telling the truth about his ankle and put him on IR.  I still believe once healed he's going to contribute. 

I think this explanation makes a lot of sense…  mis-diagnosis and him (and the coaches) thinking he could play through it.

2 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

I wonder if it originally wasn't diagnosed as torn, or if it was only slightly torn but then tore worse.

 

[Einstein]

Um, wouldn’t this mean the Bills/Elam broke NFL rules about reporting injuries?

Elam wasn’t on the injury report with an ankle until late October.

 

I’m skeptical…

[Gugny]

Proud graduate of the McDermott School of Accountability!

 

 

[Saint Doug]

2 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

If he was that injured, the team handled the whole situation very poorly.  He should have been IR'd at the beginning of the season.  This is Belichick level of messing with the injury report.

My guess is this is just one side of the story and the truth is somewhere in the middle. If a player is truly injured and is not medically cleared, then I think the team has to disclose it and place him on IR. That didn’t happen. So, he must’ve been medically cleared. It may be the case of the team saying go out and play and Elam saying he can’t. 

2 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Um, wouldn’t this mean the Bills/Elam broke NFL rules about reporting injuries?

Elam wasn’t on the injury report with an ankle until late October.

 

I’m skeptical…

I’m skeptical as well. He may very well have sustained an injury, but when it resolved is probably a point of contention between Elam and the team. 

[LABILLBACKER]

1 minute ago, Einstein said:

Um, wouldn’t this mean the Bills/Elam broke NFL rules about reporting injuries?

Elam wasn’t on the injury report with an ankle until late October.

 

I’m skeptical…

There's alot of grey area tactics NFL teams play regarding injuries. This year we saw the Bengals not report Joe's wrist.  The Bills can just plead his original ankle issue wasn't a tear?  It's obviously not right but it happens frequently.  

[Einstein]

2 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

There's alot of grey area tactics NFL teams play regarding injuries. This year we saw the Bengals not report Joe's wrist.  The Bills can just plead his original ankle issue wasn't a tear?  It's obviously not right but it happens frequently.  

 

But even if it wasn’t a tear at the time, any injury is supposed to be reported. 

 

“All players who have reportable injuries must be listed on the Practice Report, even if the player takes all the reps in practice, and even if the team is certain that he will play in the upcoming game.”

 

https://operations.nfl.com/media/2683/2017-nfl-injury-report-policy.pdf

[Maynard]

Fake news.

[Simon]

3 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

But even if it wasn’t a tear at the time, any injury is supposed to be reported. 

 

“All players who have reportable injuries must be listed on the Practice Report, even if the player takes all the reps in practice, and even if the team is certain that he will play in the upcoming game.”

 

https://operations.nfl.com/media/2683/2017-nfl-injury-report-policy.pdf

 

Maybe the rule is worded so that you only have to report injuries for active players?

If you already know a guy is going to be inactive, you don't have to say squat about it?

[Freddie's Dead]

13 minutes ago, Saint Doug said:

My guess is this is just one side of the story and the truth is somewhere in the middle. If a player is truly injured and is not medically cleared, then I think the team has to disclose it and place him on IR. That didn’t happen. So, he must’ve been medically cleared. It may be the case of the team saying go out and play and Elam saying he can’t. 

I’m skeptical as well. He may very well have sustained an injury, but when it resolved is probably a point of contention between Elam and the team. 

 

Either way, the team botched it.  Badly.

[Einstein]

6 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

Maybe the rule is worded so that you only have to report injuries for active players?

If you already know a guy is going to be inactive, technically you don't have to say squat about it?

 

Hmm, good question. I’ll dig more.

 

Could explain why they kept him inactive.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

2 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

 

Not that I care personally, but wouldn’t the Bills be in violation of league rules for not including this on injury reports?

That’s what I thought too

[HardyBoy]

1 hour ago, NoSaint said:

big boomer energy here

 

would you prefer I said he take the scenic route and chat with the buff news on his way out the door instead of popping on X? 
 

no one thinks “yea it’s been hard playing through a torn ligament so I think I need to get better” is an excuse. Do you think he’s making excuses now? 
 

was just pointing out there was no upside in waiting a month, which is different than your reasons that match up to why he’d not talk today either 

 

It could have been something Beane requested? I would imagine he was never seriously a trade candidate, but people would call about him I'm sure and it could allow Beane to shift conversations to other players? 

[BananaB]

2 hours ago, NoSaint said:

I just don’t get why he’d wait so long to tell the story 

Some guys just don’t make excuses when it comes to stepping on the field. Once he was put on IR he probably didn’t have to talk to media

[HardyBoy]

26 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

If he was that injured, the team handled the whole situation very poorly.  He should have been IR'd at the beginning of the season.  This is Belichick level of messing with the injury report.

 

I have a feeling his dad/ family is very let's say involved... it might not have been Elam's choice? 

[NoSaint]

2 minutes ago, BananaB said:

Some guys just don’t make excuses when it comes to stepping on the field. Once he was put on IR he probably didn’t have to talk to media

he still doesn’t have to answer if that’s his thing 

[HardyBoy]

17 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

But even if it wasn’t a tear at the time, any injury is supposed to be reported. 

 

“All players who have reportable injuries must be listed on the Practice Report, even if the player takes all the reps in practice, and even if the team is certain that he will play in the upcoming game.”

 

https://operations.nfl.com/media/2683/2017-nfl-injury-report-policy.pdf

 

What's the definition of a reportable injury? There's gotta be more to the rule that is relevant. 

[BuffaloRebound]

That Buffalo News article is so vague.  I read it a couple times.  Did he get an MRI after the preseason game he said he injured it in?  I mean he was running behind Benford and Jackson in training camp so it’s not like the injury was the reason he was the #4 CB.  I highly doubt the Bills would play a guy knowing he had a torn ligament in his ankle.

More likely that Elam was already #4 on the depth chart, hid the injury, stunk so bad when he was called on to play with Tre injury then Benford injury, then got the MRI and Bills shut him down.  

[BuffaloBillyG]

50 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

I’m glad to see you’ve admitted to this. Recognizing your problems is the first step to recovery. 
 

Fortunately, the rest of us can carry on. 
 

🫡

Yes, carry on be it right or wrong😂😂

[BADOLBILZ]

A sprain is a tear.    

 

The Bills said he had a sprained an ankle and that was affecting his play when they put him on IR.

 

Nothing to see here.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Perfect now we can cut him!!!

[BuffaloRebound]

My guess is he’ll be traded in the off-season for anything Bills can get. 

[MPL]

"tore ligaments" is what I used to say in JV when I rolled my ankle. 

[Ya Digg?]

27 minutes ago, BuffaloRebound said:

My guess is he’ll be traded in the off-season for anything Bills can get. 

He’s worth more than “anything the Bills can get” why would you trade him when he’s at his absolute lowest value? He’s on a rookie contract, there’s no reason to trade him in the off-season for nothing, keep him, see if he has something, and then if you need to move on in training camp there is always an injury and teams are looking for guys-you’ll have more value then 

[Milanos Milano]

1 hour ago, Gugny said:

Proud graduate of the McDermott School of Accountability!

 

 

Beane gave him a nice bag to say this. This helps distract from the real reason that he Is just not good and thus makes Beane look bad, then if he doesn’t work out they can blame it on the injury… 

[Big Turk]

3 hours ago, fergie's ire said:

This actually does make a lot of sense.  I could get that he never learned to play zone effectively but what was weird is that his man skill had regressed to the point where he didn't seem to be able to cover anyone. An injury would explain the regression.

 

 

That's simply incorrect. He has played very well in zone coverage for the Bills and very poorly in man coverage.  PFF graded him as the best zone defender on the Bills last year and the worst man defender.  It matched the eye test and the breakdowns of youtube videos on him...

[pennstate10]

2 hours ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

Either way, the team botched it.  Badly.

Not really. 
 

The obvious answer is obvious. 
 

Deltoid ligament damage is difficult to diagnose. These injuries are often missed for several weeks. 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8500389/

 

My guess is he had a sore ankle for several weeks. When it didn’t heal, the medical staff was eventually able to make a diagnosis mid season. These things typically take 4-12 weeks to heal. 
 

So, no great conspiracy or cover up. The training staff isn’t perfect. It’s an uncommon injury that took a while to diagnose. 
 

Can any of the keyboard warriors out there tell us about any other players who have had deltoid ligament injuries?  Didn’t think so. 
 

it’s an uncommon injury. 

[damj]

Good to know. Kid has too much talent to give up on. Maybe a move to safety could help

[AuntieEm]

3 hours ago, Saint Doug said:

This still doesn’t make sense. If he has an injury that is severely limiting his ability to effective play or play at the level he is expected to, then you declare the injury and place him on IR. He comes back when he’s medically cleared and able to play. None of this double-speak by McD about playing the players who give them the best chance to win. None of the constant questions by reporters. What did they expect? We have a 1st rounder who showed much promise last year to then fall off a cliff his 2nd year and were only hearing about this now??

 

 

  Maybe it is possible he didn't let the trainers know he had an injury initially and he maybe did further damage to his ligament that now will need a longer rehab and we don't know when the zone he's learning makes it into his skillset as needed fir the defense we are running.  

 

  Initially got in mcds doghouse for not playing as well as they knew he could, then once the injury was identified they started proper treatment.  Did he require surgery?  We don't know unless and until Elam himself decides to share such medical info.  

 

[AuntieEm]

4 hours ago, Simon said:

 

Yeah, the whole thing was a riddle wrapped in a secret.

Injury made the most sense and they hinted at it, but pretty late in the game, and confirmed it very late in the game.

I wonder if they were being coy with the injury reports early in the season and then decided it was best for everybody to just keep quiet and not draw attention.

I don't know enough about injury reports to know if they had something to worry about.

 

Did anybody say it's healed? I don't have the BN.

 

Well he's been cleared to practice so I'd I'm a give it is in the latter stages of bring healed likely plenty if strength exercises to help as he works his ankle back to pre injury strength and flexibility.  Hopefully he was busy creating a new notebook on what he picked up watching tape with db coaches while he was rehabbing.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 14, 2023 by AuntieEm

[Scott7975]

4 hours ago, Freddie's Dead said:

If he was that injured, the team handled the whole situation very poorly.  He should have been IR'd at the beginning of the season.  This is Belichick level of messing with the injury report.

 

What difference does it make if he is on IR or just a scratch?

[GunnerBill]

6 hours ago, somnus00 said:

That would explain why he looked so stiff switching from the back pedal to running with the receiver. I thought maybe he had a hip injury. But if you can't plant your foot and turn, your fluidity is gone and you'll lose a few steps trying to cover your guy.

 

In fairness that stiffness in the transition has been an issue pre-injury too. It was my biggest knock on him coming out and Brandon mentioned it in the presser right after picking him too that they would want to smooth his transitions. Of course the injury won't have been helping that, but that slightly mechanical transition style has been an issue for Elam throughout his career.