The 2010 NFL has featured a plethora of injuries and controversial hits but no position has been hit harder than quarterback. In the week after numerous teams were forced to use their third-string signal-callers, the NFL started reinforcing their rules on excessive hits to any players and levied stiff fines, like the one for 75K issued to James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Some notable dispatches from the trainer’s room thus far and there’s more:

• Detroit Lions: Former first-round pick Matthew Stafford injured his shoulder on opening day and has yet to return.  His replacement, Shaun Hill, broke his arm last Sunday against the New York Giants, forcing third-stringer Drew Stanton into action.  With the luxury of a bye week this Sunday, Stafford may finally return next week against the Washington Redskins.
• Cleveland Browns: People didn’t expect to see rookie quarterback Colt McCoy much this 2010 season, that is until both starter Jake Delomme and second-stringer Seneca Wallace were sidelined with ankle injuries. Colt got the start last week against the Steelers physical defense now imagine if he would have gotten knocked out of the game. . . fans then would have been given the opportunity to see a guy named Brett Ratliff who needed to be signed off the Patriots’ practice squad.
• Philadelphia Eagles: Starting QB Kevin Kolb suffered a concussion in Week 1 opening the door for Michael Vick’s comeback.  Vick then injured his ribs a few weeks later, thus opening the door for Kolb’s “comeback” and yet another quarterback controversy in Philly. Although not a QB, an honorable mention goes to wideout DeSean Jackson who was KO’ed from a vicious hit from the Falcons last Sunday, another hit that produced a large fine against the defensive player ($50,000).
• Chicago Bears: Jay Cutler missed a recent game against the Carolina Panthers, thanks to suffering a concussion (and 9 sacks) against the New York Giants the previous week. Todd Collins saw time in that game against the Giants until he was injured on a crushing hit opening the door for the Bears’ third-string QB, “what’s his name”.
• Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars: Both starters, Vince Young and David Gerrard left last Monday night’s game with injuries setting up a battle on Monday Night Football between two second string slingers.

And this list doesn’t even include the QBs who almost didn’t make it to the starting lineup last week – the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers (concussion) and the Vikings notorious “texter” Brett Favre (elbow), who nearly missed last week’s games.  So what’s the league to do?

First off, there’s not much that can be done to change the rules further to protect quarterbacks.  But keep in mind that this has become a pass-happy league – ten quarterbacks threw for over 4,000 yards in 2009 – so protecting them will be even more vital to the NFL’s future success.

That will lead to a further increase “The Blind Side” effect – namely, teams will spend top-dollar on quality left tackles that can protect their prized QBs.  Mammoth-sized offensive linemen with quick feet will only get richer (just ask Miami’s Jake Long who went No. 1 overall in his recent NFL Draft).

Finally, this all ties into a recent hot-button issue that has emerged during the collective bargaining agreement negotiations between owners and the NFLPA: should the NFL really expand to an 18-game season?  Player injuries as a whole have been trending upward, and two more games can’t be good news for QBs.  At this rate, will teams be forced to carry four of them on their rosters?  And who wants to hypothetically see Matt Flynn facing off against Tarvaris Jackson in a Sunday might match-up at Lambeau?

Used with permission of the author.

Chris Lardieri also covers the NFL for Sports Climax and the Los Angeles Dodgers for Examiner.com.  He has written about Major League Baseball for Inside Edge, a scouting company that provides content to ESPN Insider and Yahoo Sports. He previously wrote for 1766, the Rutgers Alumni Magazine, and popular blog, ‘The Outer Loop’.  Be sure to follow Chris on Twitter for more MLB and sports observations

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