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SI Article on Su'a Cravens and the Redskins


Slateman

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We kicked this around a bit in the Redskins sub, but figured this should go here.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/08/15/sua-cravens-washington-redskins-injury-grievance-trade-denver-broncos

It's a long article, so I'm not going to copy and paste the whole thing.

Couple interesting parts I found while reading through it.

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In the fourth game of his NFL career, Cravens dropped into his area in Cover-3, recognized a checkdown and transitioned downhill. As he tried to make the play on Cleveland’s Isaiah Crowell, the running back’s knee drove square into the emblem on the right side of the rookie’s helmet. Crowell slipped the tackle as Cravens blacked out.

 


He had two previous concussions in his football career, one in high school and one in college, but never one like this one, where he lost consciousness. He walked off the field on his own, but doesn’t remember doing so. His first memory is being in the training room a few minutes after he’d left the field.

 

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That was first called into question late that season. During the opening drive of a Week 14 game at Philadelphia, Cravens shed a block and used his right arm to trip up Eagles running back Ryan Mathews on a second-down run. He signaled to the bench with his left hand and then made his way to the sideline with an injured right biceps. He missed the rest of that game, but Washington staged a comeback win without him. They were 7-5-1 on the season, in prime position to capture an NFC wild-card spot.

 


The team originally feared Cravens had suffered a tear, but MRI results showed he did not need surgery. In his press conference the Monday after the Eagles game, Jay Gruden called the injury, “a moderate elbow sprain” and said the rookie was day-to-day. (Through a team spokesperson, Gruden declined to comment for this story.) Instead, Cravens missed the next two games, which Washington split. The team needed a Week 17 victory to keep its playoff hopes alive.

Many inside the building thought Cravens would be ready for the regular-season finale. The team wanted the rookie to get his arm drained to help reduce swelling and move the recovery along, but Cravens was hesitant to get the procedure to the point where he sought out a second opinion. Teammates wondered why he wasn’t pushing through the injury. Making matters worse, there were reports that Cravens was spotted playing ping-pong at the team facility. (Peter Schaffer, who Cravens hired as his agent last March, says those reports were fabricated and that Cravens doesn’t play ping-pong.)

DeAngelo Hall, a locker-room leader and team captain who retired after last season, remembers talking to trainers and Cravens about the rookie’s unexpectedly long absence. He says he told Cravens, “If I can drain this joint to get it done? I’m gonna drain this joint.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, if we make the playoffs, I’ll drain it.’ And we were like, ‘Dog, we need you to MAKE the playoffs.’ ”

“Guys were talking in the locker room, Just get it drained,” says Chris Baker, a defensive tackle on that 2016 team who’s now with the Bengals. “Guys were worried, like, What's going on?

 

While he didn’t witness it, Joe Barry, the team’s defensive coordinator that season and now linebackers coach and assistant head coach with the Rams, says that there was a “major altercation” between Cravens and the “powers that be.”

“Everyone in the building heard about it,” Barry says. “They said, Listen, this isn’t a major injury, it’s a bruise, it’s an issue, we can give you a shot to help you with the pain but this shouldn’t be a major deal that you should miss time with. You’re fine. Su’a took offense to that... He got pissed and left.”

 

Cravens got a sideline pass to his alma mater’s game and ran into Doug Williams, Washington’s senior VP of player personnel, who was at the Coliseum to scout college players. Both men say that they had a conversation that day, but their recollections of what was said differ.



Cravens says he told Williams about his recent diagnosis of post-concussion syndrome. He said that whenever Collins cleared him to return to football, he’d be all-in again. Cravens says he also told Williams that he planned to report Tuesday, the team’s first day back after the Rams game. “I thought everything was squared away,” Cravens says. “Doug told me, ‘I understand, it’s unfortunate that you got this news, but everything is going to work out, we are going to take care of you.’ So from that point on, I’m thinking it’s all good.”

Williams says Cravens never mentioned anything about his diagnosis or plans to come back to the team on Tuesday. “I asked him how he was doing and he told me he was getting better,” Williams says. “I said, O.K., take care of yourself. He said, I just gotta get my family and everything straightened up and I’m gonna be all right. But there was no conversation on what his condition was or him returning or anything like that.”

 

Hopefully these aren't too long. The article is really in-depth and I hope everyone gets a chance to read it.

 

So first off, communications issues abound throughout this ordeal. Not really a surprise when it comes to the Redskins. And frankly, it doesn't look like Cravens or his agent really did anything with urgency or a push for clarification.

The concussion issue is pretty much the example of where the NFL is at with concussions. The league is run by guys who played through them and were called weak and soft if they didn't. They expect the same, while younger players have access to much more information on concussions. You have players thinking long term, but management looking to win games.

But then you have Cravens arm injury where he comes off so soft. He's got other players questioning his desire to play the game and openly trying to get him to get treatment so he can play in the most important game of the year. And Cravens seems to waffle and not want to. After that game, it seems like neither Cravens, nor the Redskins' players, really wanted anything to do with each other.

There seems to be a history of Cravens having communication issues with his teams, while other players/coaches question his desire and work ethic, going back to USC.

What is also interesting is how dysfunctional the Redskins front office really is. The defensive coordinator for the team when they drafted Cravens had previously coached at USC, and knew nothing of Cravens threatening to quit the team, nor any of his other issues. And throughout this ordeal, the Redskins come off as bungling stooges. Once again, they enter into a PR nightmare. Somehow, they have a player bail on the team, and come off looking incompetent.

 

 

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Thanks Nacho. I wasn't sure, but this really does bear some conversation.

 

At the core of this is the NFL's struggle with concussions and the physicality of the game. Its difficult to care about players' long term health when the very nature of the game is at odds with that goal.

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A lot of grey area here, especially when it comes to concussion history. The Redskins could have dealt with the communication aspect better, as could Cravens. Cravens has just always come off as an immature, soft millennial. The Redskins should have done a better job researching his past and personality. Maybe they did their due diligence and his talent just trumped it all. I'm upset it didn't work with the Skins but happy to not have to deal with his personality. If you follow him on snapchat, you can see there are emotional and maturity issues. Again, concussion history makes it murky and probably does come into play although his issues stem all the way back to USC. 

Concussions aside, what I see in Cravens is a dude from SoCal who was the man in HS (5 star recruit), the man at USC, and then went to DC in the NFL and didn't know where his place was. Just a waste a draft pick. 

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3 minutes ago, SeanTaylorsaPIMP said:

A lot of grey area here, especially when it comes to concussion history. The Redskins could have dealt with the communication aspect better, as could Cravens. Cravens has just always come off as an immature, soft millennial. The Redskins should have done a better job researching his past and personality. Maybe they did their due diligence and his talent just trumped it all. I'm upset it didn't work with the Skins but happy to not have to deal with his personality. If you follow him on snapchat, you can see there are emotional and maturity issues. Again, concussion history makes it murky and probably does come into play although his issues stem all the way back to USC. 

Concussions aside, what I see in Cravens is a dude from SoCal who was the man in HS (5 star recruit), the man at USC, and then went to DC in the NFL and didn't know where his place was. Just a waste a draft pick. 

But wasn’t he good for you guys though? 

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@El ramster

He certainly flashed when we put him in the nickel LB role. The problem was that he wasn't tough enough to play that role. He really wanted to be safety. He's certainly a talented player. The biggest issue I have with him is that he injured his elbow late in the season his rookie year. Everyone thought that he could play through it but he wouldn't get the elbow drained. We were in a situation in week 17 where if we beat the Giants, we were in the playoffs. If we lost, we were out. The team needed him to play and he wouldn't. Here's some quotes:

Joe Barry, Defensive Coordinator: 

Quote

“Everyone in the building heard about it,” Barry says. “They said, Listen, this isn’t a major injury, it’s a bruise, it’s an issue, we can give you a shot to help you with the pain but this shouldn’t be a major deal that you should miss time with. You’re fine. Su’a took offense to that... He got pissed and left.”

DeAngelo Hall: 

Quote

He says he told Cravens, “If I can drain this joint to get it done? I’m gonna drain this joint.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, if we make the playoffs, I’ll drain it.’ And we were like, ‘Dog, we need you to MAKE the playoffs.’ ”

Chris Baker:

Quote

“Guys were talking in the locker room, Just get it drained,” says Chris Baker, a defensive tackle on that 2016 team who’s now with the Bengals. “Guys were worried, like, What's going on?

Ultimately, we lost in Week 17 and missed the playoffs. Although, I blame that loss on Kirk Cousins much more than missing Cravens.

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12 hours ago, SeanTaylorsaPIMP said:

A lot of grey area here, especially when it comes to concussion history. The Redskins could have dealt with the communication aspect better, as could Cravens. Cravens has just always come off as an immature, soft millennial. The Redskins should have done a better job researching his past and personality. Maybe they did their due diligence and his talent just trumped it all. I'm upset it didn't work with the Skins but happy to not have to deal with his personality. If you follow him on snapchat, you can see there are emotional and maturity issues. Again, concussion history makes it murky and probably does come into play although his issues stem all the way back to USC. 

Concussions aside, what I see in Cravens is a dude from SoCal who was the man in HS (5 star recruit), the man at USC, and then went to DC in the NFL and didn't know where his place was. Just a waste a draft pick. 

At some point, it stops being the individuals and starts being the environment. The Redskins organization has a well-earned reputation for immaturity and back stabbing.

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11 hours ago, ninjapirate said:

hard to believe that a team with a racist moniker is also run by guys who are scumbags. 

garbage comment, and doesnt need to be brought into this thread. If those are your feelings keep it off this site as its well communicated this ones for  football.

 

Anyway, i dont really think sua wants to play football. whether hes worried about health repercussions or really just doesnt enjoy it i dont know. i will say its extremely improbable that hes only had 3 concussions, people just dont know how to diagnose them, especially back when he was in hs. maybe the head stuff scares him which is very understandable.

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