What should we make of all the quarterback injuries in the NFL this season?

NFL fans have had no choice but to get to know reserve quarterbacks this season, as more than half of the league’s passers who started the year have gone down. It’s a scenario that the league has tried to avoid, since quarterbacks are the face of the sport. The deluge of injuries at the game’s most important position has people talking about why this is happening.

It sounds like hyperbole, but current NFL players are the most athletically gifted we’ve ever seen. This statement will continue to be true in the future, as modern medicine and training techniques will enhance their performance. As a result, quarterbacks who are stationary targets will have a tougher time taking the brunt of crushing hits.

The funny thing is, the NFL has done just about all it can to legislate unwarranted defensive contact with a quarterback. Defenders already can’t hit them at the knees, or in the head. They also can’t land on them with their full body weight. Short of not making any contact with a quarterback, there isn’t much more the league can do to avoid injuries at the position.

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NFL teams can’t train the way that they used to under the old collective bargaining agreement, which means that repetitions with their teammates are capped in official practices. This might lead to miscommunications, or force quarterbacks to hold on to the ball longer. This can result in additional punishment being taken by a passer.

It feels like most NFL fan bases complain about the performance of their offensive line, but these concerns might be well founded. The amount of preparation and training an offensive lineman receives throughout college and the professional level is also limited. Additionally, they are also tasked with learning multiple positions, which can be difficult to absorb.

The NFL does not want another situation like the one that unfolded with Tua Tagovailoa in 2022, so they are doing everything they can to identify and diagnose concussion symptoms accurately. This is an important step towards keeping players safe, but can also result in quarterbacks missing games that they otherwise would have participated in.

There’s also an element of misfortune that exists when it comes to quarterbacks going down with injury. The game happens so quickly that even legal hits can knock a passer out, and sometimes defenders grab on to whatever they can to get the quarterback down. While the volume of injuries is unfortunate, this can’t be helped.

There are ways for coaches to put their quarterbacks in a better position to stay healthy. Gameplans can be devised to roll passers out of the pocket to give them additional room to throw. Coordinators can also call more screen passes, which makes a defense have to think twice about sending all-out blitzes.

The NFL’s brand has been built on overcoming physical adversity to succeed, so it’s difficult to imagine that they would ever outlaw hits on a quarterback. However, with the amount of rules they’ve already implemented, it might not be farfetched to think that this could happen. The league promotes the game through stars, and that would be one way to keep them on the field.