Injury Updates: Dorsey's Pretty Much Fine, Albert To Miss Weeks?
Update 5:00 PM CST: Great news! Glenn Dorsey’s MRI is apparently negative! From Red Zone:
Glenn Dorsey’s knee injury isn’t as bad as the Chiefs initially feared.
Their top draft pick has a sprained knee and won’t play in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Bears in Chicago. But they are hopeful he could play in the following game on Aug. 16 against Arizona at Arrowhead Stadium.
Phew! You can breathe, Chiefs fans. It looks like like Glenn Dorsey is going to be OK. Former DB over at Chiefs Coalition has a great report that’s right out of the training room. Thanks to Jason for the find. From Chiefs Coalition:
Dorsey laid on the table and the trainer grabbed his left knee and took it through a series of bends to test the ligaments. The head trainer pulled Dorsey’s bottom leg forward and pushed it back, then looked at his assistant and said “it’s tight, it feels strong.” Then he moved the leg from side-to-side, testing the other ligaments. He sensed the normal give in the knee but asked Dorsey if it hurt. Dorsey said “naw”. Then Dorsey pointed to the spot where it hurt (right side of the knee which is inside). The trainer put his thumb on that spot, applied pressure and Dorsey said “right there.” The trainer’s eyes got big (as if to say that’s all there is?), he then told Dorsey he tweaked his knee.
After looking at that and what Bob Gretz and others had to say, it looks like Swamp Thing will probably miss the Bears game, and that’s about it. I don’t think this will have any real effect on the season the rookie has. In fact, I think an increased role for Tank Tyler over the course of the next few weeks could be a blessing in disguise.
Branden Albert, however, is a different story. The recent news is bleak. While there isn’t much of an adjustment for Dorsey, Albert adjusting from guard in college to left tackle in the pros will be a huge transition. It’s great that Herb Taylor is getting some burn, but it’s clear that Herb is more of a right tackle. He simply does not have Albert’s God-given talent. From Bob Gretz’s blog:
Chiefs officials here for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies say the best case scenario is Albert will miss three to four weeks because of a foot injury.
That makes his presence for the New England regular season opener very much in doubt.
The rookie left tackle suffered the injury this past Thursday night during a practice session with the Minnesota Vikings. It occurred when someone stepped on his foot during a play. Albert left the field and then returned and took two more snaps before coming off the field.
The more likely scenario is that Albert will miss four or five weeks. If the injury heals slowly, then it could be six weeks.
After reading that, it’s hard to see any future but a doom-and-gloom one for our Chiefs. Let’s just hope he can be at full strength for the game against the Pats opening week. Brodie Croyle, Larry Johnson and Co. will need Phat Albert to have success.
As depressing as this information seems on the surface, I council patience. Let it play out like it should. If it’s really going to be more like six weeks than 3 or 4, chances are the coaching staff will consider moving Damion back and putting Herb on the right side, and this could be the right thing to do – not based on the injury so much as the time missed getting Albert ready to play tackle.
It might even make sense to play Albert at right guard with Taylor for the rest of this year while getting him reps at tackle during practices, and later in the year use him to spell Damion to get him some live action at LT. This would take the heat off the transition and set up the switch for next year.
Most of all lets all remember there’s a LOT more talent on the squad this year than last. They ARE younger and more athletic, and they WILL be better than last year’s line no matter where Albert plays. And with the addition of Cottam, there will be more help for Damion on the left side if he needs it.
Things are going to be fine.
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:34 pmyeah but do ANT of us think dmac will even be a viable option at lt anymore? what with the knee we dont know if we can count on him to make it to week 1 either. lets go HERB
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:38 pmagreed that there is alot more talen though, just woulkd be lovely to see the phat one out there
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:38 pmsorry ANY and TALENT
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:39 pmI’m rooting for Herb Taylor and Barry Richardson here. Word was that Richardson seemed to have motivation to play the game and wouldn’t even stay in shape, and that’s the reason he slipped all the way to the 6th round. But maybe Herm woke him up?
God let’s hope so. I’m scared about this
August 3rd, 2008 at 12:49 pmIm worried that we will lose attendance at the stadium this year. Sitting in freezing cold weather last year and seeing so many empty seats at the end of the year was very depressing. The Chiefs organization has already acknowledged that blackout are a possibility and Ive never seen so many ticket for sale billboards etc.
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:22 pmIn the past the station with the rights to sell TV ads during local broadcasts have stepped in and purchased tickets to prevent blackouts so they didn’t have to refund the advertising fees and lose that revenue.
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:58 pmOn the other hand I was also proud at the number of fans that did sit it out in the bitter cold. The second to last home game was the coldest and windiest I can remember and it looked almost full.
August 3rd, 2008 at 8:17 pm“(A)n increased role for Tank Tyler over the course of the next few weeks could be a blessing in disguise.” I couldn’t agree more with that statement. Not too worried right now about the Dorsey situation.
On the other hand, having Albert miss the rest of the preseason has to be considered a major set back for his development as an LT and the progress of the OL as a whole. Even without Albert, I still think this line will play better than the one we endured last year just not great. I also feel long term that it may be valuable for Taylor to take advantage of playing on the 1st team reps because in terms of talent, this line can can certainly use added depth.
Not real happy about seeing both 1st round picks out already but there may be a silver lining to this down the road.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:10 am