Injury Report

By Will Carroll, Special to SI.com

The middle weeks of the NFL preseason are where things start to fall into place a little. Teams play starters a little more and we see the injuries tick up as well. It's the dirty secret of the gravy train that is the preseason that injuries occur at roughly the same rate in game, though it's not as well documented and because the injuries happen to guys who you've never heard of and probably won't hear from again.

There is a noticeable jump as we slide down the quality scale, giving more credence to the concept that health is a skill. As we move further on the depth chart, that lack of skill will be demonstrated, sometimes leading to vast mismatches. There was a play last year where at the snap, a defensive lineman sneezed and for a moment was frozen. The offensive tackle moved forward and instead of crushing the guy as you'd expect, he essentially fell over having anticipated the contact. Put these two together and it's no wonder that we have a full slate of injuries to talk about.

• The worst injury -- "worst" being very relative in football -- of the preseason so far is Ebenezer Ekuban's ruptured Achilles tendon. As I've doted on before, while you might not play in an IDP league, some of your players are likely to be lining up against Denver. In the first four games, Denver goes to Buffalo, home for Oakland, home for Jacksonville, and then travels to Indy. If you're J.P. Losman, Daunte Culpepper, Byron Leftwich or Peyton Manning, you have to be happy that Ekuban is on the sidelines. The slowed rush puts more pressure on Champ Bailey and Dre Bly, who lock down receivers. The place to look might be at running back, who Denver struggles to stop in the passing game. The injury to Ekuban likely makes the Broncos a mid-pack defense.

• A lot of e-mail questions regarding Larry Johnson and the risk of holding out. If by risk you mean "collecting fat checks," it's very risky. But there is an element of risk in a holdout who, in theory, isn't in football shape. Today, players have nutritionists, personal trainers and a year-round NFL schedule filled with "voluntary workouts," so there's little chance that Johnson's going to come in looking like Ron Dayne. Looking back at the data very subjectively, I don't see much in the way of any significant increase of injury risk after a protracted holdout. Johnson has more pressing concerns, like trying to overcome his workload last year and trying to figure out if his starting tackle is going to be Danni Boatwright.

• The Patriots are without their QB for a bit as he slides into fatherhood. That baby-mama drama has distracted people from the bigger issue, which is injuries to two of the key offensive Pats. Randy Moss continues to deal with a hamstring strain, keeping him off the practice field and away from the reps he needs to integrate into this offense. Brady's going to spread the ball around and on talent alone, Moss will find situations to excel. He's the guy you just say "go deep" to when you're playing intramurals, except this is the NFL.

Moss' physical problems don't bode well. He doesn't heal quickly, which many chalk up to his attitude, but I'll give you a baseball analogy here -- Moss might be Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey was a physically gifted athlete who, once he began having physical problems, simply didn't know how to deal with anything less than his previous game. Moss lacks the same nuances that can make a Brandon Stokley or Troy Brown effective despite vastly different genetic gifts. I'm way down on Moss, so much so that I'm beginning to think he'd be a steal if he drops to where I'd first consider drafting him. Moss isn't the only problem in Pats camp. Laurence Maroney is still living under the cloud of suspicion regarding his shoulder. He finally has the non-contact red jersey off and he's expected to play on Friday against Carolina. It's tough to watch preseason football, I know, but if you're in the middle picks of the first round, you'd better watch to see if Maroney might be your guy.