NFL Football Betting: Starting Quarterback Injury Updates

We’ve been talking about New York Jets’ quarterback Sam Darnold for the past few days along with the broader concept of handicapping illnesses and injuries.  Today we’ve got the opportunity to put some of the handicapping theories we discussed into practice.  At the same time, we’ll update the most recent information for several sidelined starting quarterbacks.

SAM DARNOLD/NEW YORK JETS

We discussed Darnold and his mononucleosis in detail over the past few days and there have been a few updates on his condition.  The updates are somewhat contradictory though all are within the parameters for the illness.  The first report was from Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network who indicated that Darnold could be out anywhere from 3 to 7 weeks.  This might be based more on the clinical guidelines for mononucleosis and not ‘inside information’.  CBS Sports had a more detailed analysis though offered no more specificity.  They indicated that the Jets are ‘preparing as if Darnold will not be available for at least a month’.  They quote ‘league sources’ but also offer the caveat that there’s ‘not a firm timetable’ on when he will be cleared to return.  They did cite several of the post recovery symptoms we discussed including weight loss, swollen spleen and fatigue.

Chris Mortensen of ESPN offered a more optimistic report.  According to Mortensen, Darnold is ‘already feeling better’ and that he’ll be undergoing scans on his spleen to monitor for any swelling.  Per this report, the Jets have ‘not ruled out’ Darnold returning by Week 5.  With the Jets on a bye week in Week 4, in this scenario he would only miss two games.

The takeaway from all of this?  No one really knows how long Darnold will be out.  The Jets are a team to watch closely as their situation could spiral out of control should the ‘worst case scenario’ manifest itself.  If Trevor Siemian struggles and Darnold’s illness ends up keeping him sidelined 6 or 7 weeks it could take an impact on the emotional state of the team.  Adam Gase is in his first year in New York so it might be difficult for him to ‘steady the ship’.  The only other quarterback on the roster is Luke Falk, in his second year out of Washington State.  He was claimed off of waivers in May and activated off the practice squad earlier this week.

The situation remains very fluid.  Look for updates and analysis as necessary.

BEN ROETHLISBERGER/PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Not much information at the time of writing (Sunday afternoon) but Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was ruled out for the second half after injuring the elbow on his throwing arm.  He’ll likely have a MRI on Monday and more will be known about the nature and severity of his injury within the next 24 hours.

Mason Rudolph came on at quarterback to start the second half.  Rudolph beat out Joshua Dobbs for the backup job in training camp and Dobbs was traded to Jacksonville for a sixth round pick last week. Dobbs is a native of Rock Hill, SC who played college football at Oklahoma State.  He was drafted in the third round by the Steelers in 2018 (76^th overall) and spent the season as the #3 option on the depth chart.  He didn’t see any game action in 2018 though impressed with his preseason performance.

Obviously, this is a situation to watch closely.  If Roethlisberger misses any action the Steelers will at least have to sign a quarterback to back up Rudolph.  If ‘Big Ben’ is out for the longterm the wheels could come off in Pittsburgh particularly if Rudolph is ineffective.

NICK FOLES/JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Jacksonville Jaguars’ starting quarterback Nick Foles underwent surgery this week to repair his fractured collarbone.  He suffered a clean break of the bone and had a plate and screws inserted into his shoulder to help facilitate long term stability.  He won’t be cleared for on field activity for at least six weeks though for now Foles is targeting a Week 11 return to the lineup.  Assuming there isn’t a setback, Foles could start practicing prior to the Jags’ Week 9 game against Houston.  Jacksonville has a bye in Week 10 after which the hope is to remove Foles from the IR list.

For now, Gardner Minshew is the starting quarterback.  Minshew had another solid outing on Sunday at Houston putting up better numbers than Texans’ starter Deshaun Watson.  Minshew was 22-33 for 213 yards with 1 TD and no interceptions.  He had a nice scramble to keep the Jags’ final drive alive and hit DJ Chark for a late touchdown pass that would have likely won the game had Leonard Fournette been able to complete the two point conversion.