Will The Real Rob Ryan Please Shut Up?

Honestly, am I the only one who is completely sick of the Ryan family?

Rex and Rob Ryan talk more trash than teenage girls on Facebook, and to be honest it is a little ridiculous coming from two [very] fully grown men.

Rob Ryan matched and perhaps even exceeded his brother's most insane comments last week, by daring to insinuate that Calvin Johnson Jr is less talented than Dez Bryant or Miles Austin. He's referring to a guy whose nickname is 'Megatron'....seriously Rob?

When asked last week by the media how he would deal with Megatron, Rob's response was to say, “We work against better receivers with Miles Austin and Dez Bryant,” Ryan said. “They are probably two of the premier receivers in football, but this guy is right there. He’s almost that good. He’s excellent.

WHAT??

Well let's see: Calvin Johnson is a perennial Pro-Bowler, he has matched Cris Carter's record for consecutive multi-touchdown games, he is the first to do that in the opening 4 games, he is among the first 4 receivers picked in fantasy football every year...need I go on?

Johnson is a 6-foot-5, 236-pound physical freak of nature. He has a 43-inch vertical leap, and he is faster and stronger than his alleged competition on the Dallas Cowboys. 

He scored two touchdowns in the 4th quarter comeback by the Detroit Lions yesterday, and accumulated 58 of his 96 reception yards in that same quarter.

I'm sorry, has anyone ever seen Dez Bryant or Miles Austin haul in a touchdown catch in triple-coverage, AND make it look EASY?? No, I didn't think so.

Even better, the ever humble Johnson chose not to respond to Ryan, letting his play do the talking. His coach and quarterback were more than happy to step up to the plate on his behalf.
Jim Schwartz said post game: "Indulge me for a second, I am just glad that the third-best receiver on their team is on our team."

Even Jason Garrett said that Johnson is arguably the best player in the NFL, and Terrance Newman claimed it is difficult to cover a guy who "could play power forward for the Detroit Pistons." How true.

At least Rex has two consecutive AFC Championship appearances to brag about. Rob on the other hand, can just shut up now. He should stick a cheeseburger in that big mouth of his and call it a day. He's gotta gameplan the next collapse after all.

You know what they say: Empty barrels make the most noise!

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Injury Prone: Is it Real?

With the recent rash of injuries to oft-injured players such as Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and Miami quarterback Chad Pennington, JZ Sports is asking, what does it mean to be injury prone? Is it all physical, or are there mental aspects as well? Jake and Zack debate.



Zack: I see it as a combination of many factors. Physically, one might be muscularly weaker or unable to fully heal from past injuries that might or might not have been serious.

Jake: What about somebody like Pennington, who has had multiple surgeries on the same shoulder? Would you say it is because he is unable to fully heal? Or is it his fault for something in his style of play?

Zack: Well it's interesting because coaches teach quarterbacks how to fall correctly when being tackled because they have been known to be more fragile. In terms of Stafford, he could be fighting for more yardage or falling down the wrong way, which can aggravate previous injuries or create new ones. Some players seem to fight harder for yards than others, do you think this is a positive or a negative?

Jake: Well I think it depends on the player. We have to look at a guy like Bob Sanders on the Colts or Ronnie Brown on the Dolphins and figure they are doing something wrong. Sanders always seems to be  injured, and it is usually something like a knee or elbow injury, which means he is not taking care of himself during hard plays. It also cannot be excused by his effort, because how often is Troy Polamalu injured? Aside from that, do you think there might  be a mental aspect to these injuries?

Zack: There is definitely a mental aspect to it. In Stafford's situation, it must be devastating for a quarterback to come into the league with such promise, separate his shoulder in his rookie year, then separate his other shoulder twice in his second season. Mentally, this must cripple him and almost force him to feel like he needs to pressure himself to get back quicker, even if he's not fully healed. Perhaps this brings some hesitation to his game and inhibits his development. We saw this happen to Chad Pennington when he looked like a rising star.

Jake: Agreed. Injuries can cripple the psyche of the players. Bad injuries can alter careers forever or even end them. Even worse, it can cripple them after their careers are over. One such type of injury is concussions, which I think are a matter of real concern. Concussions seem to be on the rise, as more players are getting concussed every week. In the past, one could attribute frequent concussions to the play style of the victims, such as Wayne Chrebet and Brian Westbrook. However, nowadays every player seems to be prone to concussions, and one has to wonder whether it's due to the players themselves or something else, like poor helmet technology.

Zack: The equipment technology is also on the rise and I don't see the helmets as the problem. James Harrison put it perfectly when he said that he looks to hurt players when hitting them. It has become a more violent game with players wanting to make Sportscenter highlights with big hits. It seems like being "injury prone" is less due to physical attributes and more due to mental state and style of play. Would you agree?

Jake: Yes. I think if we go back and look at most of the repeat-injury players, their later injuries usually result from a mistake on their part. Of course there are always injuries that are unavoidable accidents, but when we see the same players going down again and again, we have to assume that they are doing something wrong. After all, can we really think that Peyton Manning's bones are stronger than Ronnie Brown's?

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