The 2019 NFL season is only two weeks in and we have already witnessed a lot of changes we weren’t anticipating when it comes to the quarterback position. With injuries plaguing some of the league’s best to veterans taking a backseat and letting the rookies/back-ups take the reins. Let’s take a quick glance at what has happened thus far:
New York Jets: Second year quarterback Sam Darnold is expected to miss some time due to him dealing with mono. It is not yet clear as to how long he will be out for but according to Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer Sam is reported to return sooner than expected. “Sam Darnold told me last night he feels much, much better and says he hopes docs let him rejoin his team this week. Says doc told him he has to take 21 days to recover and as a result hoping he comes back after the bye Week 4. Says he hasn’t lost much weight at all,” tweeted Glazer.
New Orleans Saints: In the NFC championship last season the Saints lost to the Rams after a controversial pass interference penalty was not called by the officials. Dubbed the NFC rematch the Saints and fans were looking to avenge themselves this past week but their dreams were cut short when Saints quarterback Drew Brees suffered a torn ligament in the thumb of his throwing hand. This injury came after Rams defensive tackle and DPOY Aaron Donald had made contact with Brees’ thumb with his hand. Brees is expected to be out for six weeks with surgery being required to repair the damaged ligaments. Teddy Bridgewater takes his place as the Saints’ starting quarterback.
Pittsburgh Steelers: After their embarrassing week 1 loss to the New England Patriots the Steelers looked to their week 2 fixture against the Seahawks to redeem themselves. The Steelers’ quarterback Big Ben Roethlisberger who left the field with what appeared to be a non-contact injury will require extensive surgery on his elbow and will mess the rest of the NFL season. Big Ben who is currently 37 years old, has previously toyed with the notion of retiring multiple times will have lots of time to think about his future in the NFL. Mason Rudolph replaced Ben on the field this weekend and will be the Steelers no.1 quarterback for the foreseeable future.
Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton who recently recovered from a shoulder surgery last year has not looked his usual self as of late. Newton who currently leads the league in ‘uncatchable passes’ at a staggering 34.7% according to Pro Football Focus, has sustained yet another injury. Newton hurt his foot after their loss to the Buccaneers on Thursday night told the team about the aggravated injury and according to Panthers’ GM Marty Hurney, The team does not have a solid timeline for when Newton will be able to play and they will “see how it goes.” it’s understood that Kyle Allen will start at quarterback if Cam Newton is physically unable to and Will Grier will be the back-up.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Superbowl MVP Nick Foles broke his collarbone in week 1 and will be out indefinitely with no clear timeline as to when he will return. Gardner Minshew took his place on the field after Foles’ was forced to leave the game.
New York Giants: The Giants’ HC Pat Shurmur informed Eli Manning earlier today that he will not be the starting quarterback in this Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers. 2x-Superbowl Champion Eli Manning who has thrown for 2 TD and 2 INT in his first two games with an average QBR of 30 has been forced to take a backseat to rookie Daniel Jones. Daniel who was selected sixth overall in this years draft has been given the go-ahead as the Giants starting quarterback. Jones who had shown flashes of promise in the preseason will now have a chance to hopefully silence critics this weekend.
With all these injuries at QB in the league, one would think Colin Kaepernick would receive a call one of these days but I am told his agent is busy calling teams in need of a QB as we speak. Whether they accept the call is a different story.
