ckparrothead
Premium Member
I just wanted to bring this up because to be honest, a quarterback dealing with a severe knee injury is actually a pretty new and unfamiliar thing.
You saw how everyone grossly overestimated the rehab and recovery timelines for both Carson Palmer and Daunte Culpepper. The injury just isn't all that familiar for a QB. The last time I can remember major knee or leg injuries for a QB (other than Dan's achilles) were Joe Theisman...and I think didn't Joe Namath have his career ended by a bad leg injury?
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that we have to keep a very open mind when it comes to Daunte's play, because the book really is being written right now on the pattern of recovery for QBs with serious knee injuries. We've seen the pattern of recovery for QBs with shoulder problems, and we've seen the pattern of recovery for QBs with concussions.
But where it concerns knee injuries, the press got the rehab and recovery times wrong by a longshot, and now it appears everyone is getting the play expectations wrong by a country mile as well. Keep an open mind about these things because right now the book is being written on how these serious knee injuries affect a QB's throws, his pocket presence, his decision-making, etc.
What brought this to my attention is the simple fact that Carson Palmer has been sacked 11 times through 3 games. He got sacked 10 times in the last 2 games alone.
Daunte is not alone here. Carson's got a heck of a better OL than we do right now, and yet he's not able to escape the rush and make decisions that normally fall under the realm of "pocket presence" the way he was able to in the past. It will take some time.
So when you see our OL allow someone to go in free to the QB within a 2.0 second range, and you wonder, why doesn't Daunte see that the OL broke down? Why doesn't he get rid of the ball when the OL breaks down? It is probably because of knee issues...adapting to a knee that does not work the same way...the same issues that Carson Palmer is dealing with right now as a QB. But with Carson, the rest of the Bengals team is helping him cover up those weaknesses with a good ground game, receivers that are getting open consistently, better OL/TE/RB protection, probably better play calling, etc. Daunte's not getting AS MUCH help right now, IMO.
So before you start accusing Daunte of sucking real bad and holding him up to standards as if he did not have the knee injury, let's wait a bit and see a little more of the pattern that is being established right now by both Daunte Culpepper and Carson Palmer in terms of overcoming the knee issues by adapting your game mentally to account for the lowered mobility.
Also keep in mind that Nick Saban flat out said there is absolutely nothing wrong with Daunte's pass mechanics right now...I think a lot of people are chasing shadows where that is concerned.
You saw how everyone grossly overestimated the rehab and recovery timelines for both Carson Palmer and Daunte Culpepper. The injury just isn't all that familiar for a QB. The last time I can remember major knee or leg injuries for a QB (other than Dan's achilles) were Joe Theisman...and I think didn't Joe Namath have his career ended by a bad leg injury?
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that we have to keep a very open mind when it comes to Daunte's play, because the book really is being written right now on the pattern of recovery for QBs with serious knee injuries. We've seen the pattern of recovery for QBs with shoulder problems, and we've seen the pattern of recovery for QBs with concussions.
But where it concerns knee injuries, the press got the rehab and recovery times wrong by a longshot, and now it appears everyone is getting the play expectations wrong by a country mile as well. Keep an open mind about these things because right now the book is being written on how these serious knee injuries affect a QB's throws, his pocket presence, his decision-making, etc.
What brought this to my attention is the simple fact that Carson Palmer has been sacked 11 times through 3 games. He got sacked 10 times in the last 2 games alone.
Daunte is not alone here. Carson's got a heck of a better OL than we do right now, and yet he's not able to escape the rush and make decisions that normally fall under the realm of "pocket presence" the way he was able to in the past. It will take some time.
So when you see our OL allow someone to go in free to the QB within a 2.0 second range, and you wonder, why doesn't Daunte see that the OL broke down? Why doesn't he get rid of the ball when the OL breaks down? It is probably because of knee issues...adapting to a knee that does not work the same way...the same issues that Carson Palmer is dealing with right now as a QB. But with Carson, the rest of the Bengals team is helping him cover up those weaknesses with a good ground game, receivers that are getting open consistently, better OL/TE/RB protection, probably better play calling, etc. Daunte's not getting AS MUCH help right now, IMO.
So before you start accusing Daunte of sucking real bad and holding him up to standards as if he did not have the knee injury, let's wait a bit and see a little more of the pattern that is being established right now by both Daunte Culpepper and Carson Palmer in terms of overcoming the knee issues by adapting your game mentally to account for the lowered mobility.
Also keep in mind that Nick Saban flat out said there is absolutely nothing wrong with Daunte's pass mechanics right now...I think a lot of people are chasing shadows where that is concerned.