Casey Printers has a torn ACL

[ed_lunsford]

MRI results on his right knee revealed a torn miniscus, and a partially torn ACL. Initial tests done last week were inconclusive, but the extent of the injury was discovered when swelling in the knee subsided.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/20 ... rs_injury/

Oh boy, I'm in the dark as to how these are treated in the CFL, however in the NFL it would mean he would be out for the season with a 8 month rehab.

Travis Lulay is likely to play for the rest of the season, unless of course JJ shows he is healthy enough to Start.

[Blue In BC]

That sucks for Printers. It's a good opportunity for Lulay and he showed well in the last game.

[almo89]

Man I feel bad for Printers. Lulay gets a huge opportunity here. All the planets are aligned for him. I guess Mike Reilly is 3rd on the depth chart.

[Bosco]

Ouch! I don't think too many people were expecting the MRI to show his knee injured to this extent. This is indeed a tough break for Casey.

Lulay...the team is all yours (*wishing you continued good health *)

[WestCoastJoe]

I feel bad for Casey. Another challenge for him to overcome. Another chapter in the book. Full credit to Casey for his courage and determination in trying to play through the nicks and hurts and injuries.

But I think Travis is up to the task at hand. He will be the guy now.

Are the Lions a graveyard for quarterbacks?

Well, I do believe that our Offensive game plans did not provide adequate pass protection over the years.

Not enough rollouts. Not enough tight end. Not enough blocking back. Not enough screens. Not enough swing passes. Not enough shovel passes. Not enough hot reads. Not enough running game at times. Not enough taking it to those rush ends flying in at the QB. Do we allow our QBs to audible frequently? At all?

Too many slow crossing patterns. Too many empty backfields. Too much pocket passing. Too much willingness to take the extra time, to take the sack, to take the hit to make the play.

There is a price to pay for such a philosophy. Constantly injured quarterbacks.

Now we are seeing more elements in our offence that have been missing that take the pressure off of our QB. Let's hope they continue and increase.

[ed_lunsford]

Well, now we know why Casey P wasn't running very well.

As for Lulay, he steps into a tough situation, the team is 1-3, and very young, the plus side is there are great pieces at Wr and Rb.

I also suspect we will see more Jaris Jackson.

Another season, another Leos Qb winds up seriously injured, a pity really as I suspect Wally was betting heavily on Casey to play well this year.

[Blitz]

I think this injury could be the end for Casey Printers. It's also another example of our Leos playing an injured quarterback and that situation resulting in more permanent injury. We rushed Dickenson back from concussions, we played Printers with a bad shoulder cuff injury in 2005, and we played Buck so injured, on a number of occasions, that I believe it negatively effected the mental part of his game.

Printers should not have been playing against Montreal. It was so obvious he couldn't throw off his front leg and was short hopping the football. I find it sad because Printers will not get the opporuntity he so badly worked so hard for...the chance for redemption.

We're fortunate we have Lulay and anyone who thought we should discard Jarious Jackson in the off-season was not thinking about how often we injure our quarterbacks here in B.C.

[almo89]

I agree with Westcoastjoe. I don't think it's Pierce or DD being brittle anymore. It's our scheme that causes our QB's to get hurt. Even a tank like Jarious is gonna get hurt if our QB's are getting hit that much. Speaking of those slow crossing patterns, not only do they hurt the QB, they hurt the receiver too! How many times did Clermont get thumped by one of those! I don't see any other receiver able to get up from those on a regular basis besides Clermont. If they want Lulay to stay healthy, they better develop a running game and schemes to pick up blitzes and regular pressure.

[Tighthead]

Didn't Wally make some comment about Printers having to play through the pain, concentrate, etc?

That must be going over real well in the locker room now.

[SammyGreene]

BC Lions: The Boulevard of Broken Dreams for Quarterbacks

Wally is ignorant enough to suggest it's bad luck where the track record of keeping QBs healthy since 2003 speaks for itself. Meanwhile, when was the late time Burris missed a game, Calvillo? Ray? Durant? What a joke.

The book on BC should be: Great for development but get the hell out of there while you are still healthy.

Should we start a "When will Lulay get hurt" pool?

The Lions marketing department must be pulling their hair out theses days — a 1-3 start, two crappy home games and now their 2010 poster boy likely done for the season in late July.

[Lion Guy]

I agree with Westcoastjoe. I don't think it's Pierce or DD being brittle anymore. It's our scheme that causes our QB's to get hurt. Even a tank like Jarious is gonna get hurt if our QB's are getting hit that much. Speaking of those slow crossing patterns, not only do they hurt the QB, they hurt the receiver too! How many times did Clermont get thumped by one of those! I don't see any other receiver able to get up from those on a regular basis besides Clermont. If they want Lulay to stay healthy, they better develop a running game and schemes to pick up blitzes and regular pressure.

I guess our scheme wrapped around Buck's legs this year and hurt his knee to put him out for 4 games or so?

No. Our QB's have bad luck. Just as Kevin Glenn did in the east final when he broke his arm; just like Durant did when he busted his ribs; just like Burris did when he hurt his shoulder etcetc.

[almo89]

I agree with Westcoastjoe. I don't think it's Pierce or DD being brittle anymore. It's our scheme that causes our QB's to get hurt. Even a tank like Jarious is gonna get hurt if our QB's are getting hit that much. Speaking of those slow crossing patterns, not only do they hurt the QB, they hurt the receiver too! How many times did Clermont get thumped by one of those! I don't see any other receiver able to get up from those on a regular basis besides Clermont. If they want Lulay to stay healthy, they better develop a running game and schemes to pick up blitzes and regular pressure.

I guess our scheme wrapped around Buck's legs this year and hurt his knee to put him out for 4 games or so?

No. Our QB's have bad luck. Just as Kevin Glenn did in the east final when he broke his arm; just like Durant did when he busted his ribs; just like Burris did when he hurt his shoulder etcetc.

Sure some specific injuries like the one you suggested is not scheme related. But it's the wear and tear that is scheme related. Our QB's get hit so much that all it takes is a light hit and they are out. How many times did Printers get hit this year? It's only been a few games. I've seen countless times where the ball is snapped and there is a guy in his face. I rarely see any counter attacks to blitzes. I'd like to see audibles called at the line if the QB sees something that doesn't look good.

[WestCoastJoe]

Didn't Wally make some comment about Printers having to play through the pain, concentrate, etc?

That must be going over real well in the locker room now.

Wally does have some old-fashioned football ideas. Football is a man's game. Injuries are part of football. Ya gotta play through injury. Suck it up. It's Vince Lombardi stuff. Lombardi did not want to see anybody in the Trainer's room. So guys didn't go there.

I loved Lombardi as a coach. Read many books about him and the Packers (and the Redskins.) But that style of coaching is 40 years out of date. Now we acknowledge injuries.

One story about Lombardi and injury. He was with the Redskins after leaving the Packers and trying to stay out of football. He had very little talent to work with. He brought back a receiver from his Packer days who had had many knee operations. I think his name was Bob Long. At practice with the Redskins, Long collapsed on the field, holding his knee. Lombardi ran over to Long and screamed at him: "Get up. Get up and run on that leg. There's nothing left in there to go wrong."

I can't help but think that Wally shares that philosophy. Play through the injury. Be a man. And no fancy schemes, either. Just block and tackle. Pound the opponent into submission. No head-set required.

[ed_lunsford]

Didn't Wally make some comment about Printers having to play through the pain, concentrate, etc?

That must be going over real well in the locker room now.

There is a difference between playing with pain, and when a joint just won't work.

Oddly enough, for all of Lombardi's preaching of toughness, his refusal to have himself checked out led to his cancer becoming terminal.

I really appreciate incredible toughness, such as players playing on broken legs or with cracked ribs, but there does come a point when it is totally counter productive and even harmful in the long term.

[JohnHenry]

While our offence is not designed for maximum protection, many of our QB injuries were just bad luck and fluke plays. It's not like our QB's are getting constantly injured when standing the pocket. DD got a concussion getting kneed in the head while trying to make a tackle. Most of Buck's injuries happened when he was scrambling and didn't protect himself or hook slide. Jarious is a pocket passer and came through unscathed except for his torn shoulder. Buck also had a torn shoulder. While I might prefer a traditional 2-back set, no teams run that exclusively in today's CFL.

Part of our problem was QB's hanging onto the ball too long, looking for a big play...and refusing to throw the ball away.

The Lions offensive schemes are faulty by not having a commitment to run the ball (our opponents know this) and not providing a safety valve for the QB's to dump the ball off. In the old days, teams would never blitz us the way they are doing now. Either John Henry White would knock the blitzer on his backside, or the QB's could just dump the ball off and kill a blitzing defence.