Injury Report (cont.)

• I won't disguise my (platonic) love for Clinton Portis. Even without his wacky characters, the man is one of those quote machines that the NFL should actually embrace. How he's not a commercial machine is beyond me. Of course, it would help if he put up big numbers, though that didn't stop Reggie Bush. Portis is going to be one of those players caught up in the "Good For Ball, Bad For Fantasy" dilemmas. Portis' de facto timeshare with Ladell Betts should serve to keep him healthier and fresher, but it will also take away some touchdowns and yards. The question is whether it will be enough of a dropoff. I haven't seen Portis go in the first round yet and he's a reach there, but if healthy, Portis can put up better numbers with Betts than without. That's right, we have another situation like Jacksonville where there are two draftable running backs. This isn't a "handcuff"; this is two valid backs. And that if? I'm telling you now that Portis will be healthier this year despite a minor preseason knee injury.

• If you're going to sprain your knee, you might as well keep the damage to the MCL. Even when it tears or ruptures, current medical thinking is that it's easier to not fix it, allowing the inherent redundancies of the knee to act as stabilizers and using external bracing as another level of protection. It's hard to predict how the MCL sprain will affect Travis Henry, but the fact is that it should be slight. If you've watched the slow-mo highlights of a back juking and hopping back there, you'll know that the knees do some amazing unnatural looking things on the field. We should know quickly if Henry's knee can still handle that. If not, can he can adjust and act as an ACL-recovery player, who has a tendency to run straight line.

• Kevin Jones isn't exactly bumping up against Tatum Bell on the depth chart, but if Bell looked over his figurative shoulder, he'd see Jones not just running, but cutting. That's a big step for Jones after surgery last year to correct a Lisfranc fracture. Much like Shaun Alexander, we're not sure exactly what stresses Jones will place on his feet. Going back to those slow-mo highlights and Jones' scatback stylings, there's a lot of possibilities. According to my best sources, the fracture site actually shouldn't be affected by the cuts, but in the starts. Note that an NFL running back has a tendency to "start" a couple times on any given run, so this isn't exactly minimal. The thing to watch for when Jones gets into games is whether he has an explosive burst.

• A high ankle sprain is bad, really bad. A high ankle sprain for a speed player -- even worse. At risk of sounding like one of those "priceless" ads, Mark Clayton is going to find himself pre-seasonless. That's not such a bad thing, but there's always the concern that any injury like this is going to linger and let's face it, Clayton hasn't built up much trust. The former Sooner has a history of ankle problems, so the latest in this series has to be worrisome for anyone considering taking a chance on this Raven.

• If you haven't read Michael Lewis' The Blind Side, you should. It's as good a book as Moneyball (though neither compares to Liar's Poker, though few books in any genre do) and gives some amazing insights. I read the book last year as my flight book, getting it in drips and drabs, then talking about things with Ron Jaworski. To vastly oversimplify, the game is becoming a quarterback's game and so much of the schemes, plays, and even officiating is built around the concept of protecting this valuable, fragile asset. It's difficult to tell exactly how well this evolution is working. The left tackles of the league seem to be doing a better job, but it's more than that. It's trying to codify the traumatic risks of something like the rolling injury to Carson Palmer or the sudden pop of Donovan McNabb. The protections given the QB seem to be working, yet devastating injuries continue to happen because inevitably, something unexpected happens. There's no way to guard against that.

• Bumps and Bruises: Late word from Lions camp that Mike Furrey is having some knee problems. Be sure to keep your eye on this one if you're drafting this weekend. ... Can't wait to hear Bob Costas call Jerome Bettis on this piece of fiction. ... Frank Gore's hand is healed. Yes, it's so much of a non-issue that I'm putting it down here in the Larry King section of the column. ... Rod Smith isn't making much progress with his hip. After offseason surgery, it doesn't look as if Smith will play. There's talk of PUPing him rather than cutting the Broncos great. ... Terry Glenn isn't going to practice until all preseason games are over. Don't expect him to be effective just because the calendar flips to the regular season. It's going to take at least a couple weeks beyond that.