A lot of NFL players are sitting out of the 2020-2021 NFL season, and the culprit is not COVID, but injuries. 

Many valuable players in the NFL are injured, and players like Dak Prescott are questionable if not fully out of the 2020 season. Injured players will have a big effect on their team’s performance.

Mike Tanier of the New York Times writes, “According to conventional NFL wisdom, there are two probable causes of any sudden injury rash: too much high-intensity practice, and not enough high-intensity practice.”

The NFL season is in full swing now, but during the summer, teams had their high-intensity summer training camp shortened due to COVID, and due to this players were unable to adapt quickly enough to football and it resulted in injuries. 

Saquon Barkley, a running back for the New York Giants, tore his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) on the first play of Week 2’s game, against the Chicago Bears. This is an example of how crucial it is to have players fully adapted and ready for the season. 

For teams in the NFL, injuries are the worst thing that could happen and it could affect their performance during important and competitive games.  The teams that were affected due to injuries are the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers. 

The Dallas Cowboys lost their starting quarterback Dak Prescott, who was supposed to sign a five-year contract of $175 million, but due to his injury he and the Dallas Cowboys never came to an agreement. Instead he was franchised tagged, meaning that he will only be on the team for this season before he could become a free agent and negotiate with other teams. His injury will cost him the rest of his season with the Dallas Cowboys. 

Bill Heyen of Sporting News states ,”Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed to media that Prescott’s injury is expected to be season ending.” 

The loss of their starting quarterback will affect the whole franchise of the Dallas Cowboys.

Injuries are very common in the NFL and teams go into seasons expecting injuries, but no one expected this many players and franchise players to be injured.