On Monday at Arizona Cardinals training camp practice, star defensive tackle Darnell Dockett was carted off the field with an apparent lower leg injury. Unfortunately for Arizona, later in the day it was determined that Dockett suffered a torn ACL and will miss the entire season.
Dockett has spent his career with the Arizona Cardinals ever since being drafted in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft. In 10 NFL seasons, the defensive tackle has only miss two games and started 156 of his 158 games played. The 33-year-old has registered 349 tackles, 40.5 sacks and 14 fumble recoveries throughout his career. The Cardinals announced via twitter late last night that Dockett's injury was indeed a torn ACL.
"He's a great player, a guy we count on day in and day out to be a leader and take us where we want to go," said Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell, who has played alongside Dockett for the past six years, in this ESPN article. "... Hopefully he'll come back soon."
On the East Coast, the Washington Redskins are dealing with a franchise player of their own. Robert Griffin III seemingly doesn't understand what "sliding" means. The third year quarterback took a number of hits last night on Monday Night Football against the Cleveland Browns and ended up suffering a bruised thigh in the Redskins' 24-23 victory. Although it wasn't a serious injury, Griffin arguably could have avoided each hit at the end of his runs - something he didn't do when he suffered a concussion against the Falcons during his rookie season. Griffin is entering his second year since tearing his ACL against the Seattle Seahawks during the 2012 playoffs and the team has reiterated that the former Baylor quarterback needs to protect himself more effectively.
"It's something we have to continue to talk to him about - how important he is to this team and this franchise. When he gets out of the pocket, he needs to protect himself," head coach Jay Gruden told the Associated Press, via this NBC Sports ProFootballTalk article. "He's had a habit in his career of being able to get himself out of those predicaments with his speed and his athleticism. But here it's a 16-game season, with the great talent across the league in the NFL, [and] he's got to pick his shots and learn how to get down a little bit better."
With two weeks remaining in the NFL preseason, teams are simply looking to enter Week 1 without significant setbacks.