Not this time…
Dear Ed Reed,
If you are hurt then don’t play and if you are going to wait until two of your defensive stars are injured to make your announcement then do us all a favor and keep quiet.
The Baltimore Ravens are now being investigated by the NFL for their handling of Ed Reed’s shoulder injury. Reed, who announced on Baltimore’s 105.7 ” The Fan” radio station earlier this week that he has been playing with a slighty torn labrum the past few weeks.
Some may just shake their heads and say it is Ed being Ed once again however the repercussions of his latest episode could prove costly. Just this past week the NFL fined the Buffalo Bills and the Washington Redskins $20,000 each for violating the league’s procedures for reporting injury information.
Reed has once again shocked the Ravens front office I am sure.
During this past offseason, Reed was nothing but a headache for the organization. From his decision to holdout during the three-day mini-camp for rookies and veterans as well as holding out on the Baltimore Ravens’ voluntary and mandatory offseason workouts this year. His comments stirred the pot once again when he told aforementioned radio station, “The only way a player gets what he wants is by holding out.”
When is enough enough?
One minute the guy is somewhere else and the next minute he is running around the field being the Ed we all know and love. One has to wonder whether the Ravens brass has had enough. Of course Reed downplayed his comments no doubt under the advice from the Ravens.
“I ain’t drop no bombshell, man,” Reed said. “I ain’t no pitcher. I don’t play baseball. That’s something that we knew about. It’s not nothing to worry about it, it is what it is.. The last few weeks I’ve been dealing with it. I haven’t been pressing, so it’s all right.”
He went on to further say “Target it, target me, throw it, c’mon,” Reed said. “Either way it goes, I’m on the field, I have to do my job and they know that whether I’m injured or not. I have had some shoulder stuff going on for a couple of years. It’s nothing I can’t play around or adapt my game to.”
Really Ed if it is nothing you can’t play around then why all the hoopla?
Why wait until you are going up against a tough Texans team to announce the shoulder injury?
Is it because you want to have an out in case they butcher you in the secondary?
I understand completely that no player is ever healthy. Going through week after week of smashing and grinding through a rough schedule takes its toll – I get it! I have been a huge Reed fan since the Ravens drafted the ball hawk out of the “U”. I respect his game and agree he is one of the best to ever strap on a helmet.
I am anxious to see how the Ravens handle this fiasco. I know they can’t ban him from speaking to the media however it would be a good thing for them both if he stopped talking and just played.
