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00:00Live right here on the early line. It's the end of the National Football League regular season. So as the pro football doc, Dr. David Chow joins us right now at the end of the regular season. It's the insight and the analysis from an injury and health perspective for those playoff teams continuing in action around the National Football League. Dr. Chow, as always, we appreciate the time on this Monday morning, looking back on the final weekend of the regular season and some critical injuries that will be
00:30incredibly important for postseason runs about to begin. Absolutely. And for the other 18 teams not in the playoffs, this is the busiest day of the year for medical with exit, physical, etc. And there are three times or more surgeries at the end of the season than during the season. A lot of cleanup work to be done.
00:54That is for sure an offseason, hopefully of rest. Right now, though, for those playoff teams, it is getting ready to start your postseason march. Dr. Chow, yesterday, the Packers in a game at Lambeau as a nine and a half point favorite against the Bears really did not have their playoff destiny in their own hands. If the commanders won in Dallas, Washington would be the succeed. It wasn't easy for the commanders, but they did claim the number six seed in the NFC postseason.
01:24Which led to the Packers faltering not only against the Bears, but also with some critical injuries. Now, moving forward, Christian Watson out with a knee injury, it would seem, but mostly Dr. Chow, the quarterback in Jordan Love injured early in the game. They turn it over to Malik Willis, but then we saw Jordan Love starting to warm up on the sidelines in a critical juncture down the home stretch of that game.
01:51The Packers are calling it an elbow injury. What is his prognosis as Green Bay is getting ready to head to Philadelphia to start off the postseason?
02:00First of all, if you don't think teams on a sideline, even though there's no electronic communication and they may not broadcast scores on the scoreboard, if you don't think teams on the sideline know the score of the other game, you're crazy. I've been there. They know.
02:14From a sideline reporter, from somebody, from whatever different sources, they get the trickle. That's why Jordan Love also was warming up. Good news on Jordan Love. Yes, he exited the game.
02:28And anytime you say elbow, it's a worry, but it was a contusion to the medial elbow or the funny bone. And we said it from the war room in game, the way that he was flexing his hand, the way he was grabbing these two fingers, the way he's gripping the football.
02:42This is an ulnar nerve, temporary contusion injury, funny bone injury, somewhere between what Josh Allen had a couple weeks ago and Brock Purdy had recently last week as well.
02:56And we do believe that Jordan Love could have returned to the game. Matt LaFour said so afterwards. And don't see this being an issue going forward as they take on the Eagles.
03:09Yeah, will he have some residual little tingling numbness? Maybe, but we feel like his grip will be fine and he will be a full go for the game. Not quite the case for Christian Watson.
03:20We were wrong. We didn't think he'd make it back this week with his knee. And unfortunately, it seems like he came back a week too early. And that's the perils of coming back a week too early.
03:30Don't have any details yet, but it seems like he's going to miss an extended period of time.
03:36Yeah, continuously battling usually those hamstring injuries for Christian Watson. We'll see if he can battle back. But another guy, Zay Flowers, on Saturday, Doc, as we watch, one of the key ingredients if the Baltimore Ravens want to make a deep run.
03:46He is a great wide receiver, gets banged up with the knee, left the game. What did you see from that injury? And also, is there a chance that he could play this week?
03:55Well, here's the good news and bad news on what we've seen on Zay Flowers. The good news is it's not major. It's not season ending. It's not surgical. It happened not on the planning cut. It's not his ACL.
04:08But after he fell, he got hit on the inside of the leg. The problem is his foot was leveraged against somebody else and all the stress went to the knee.
04:18So he has a knee sprain, likely LCL or posterolateral corner. Mild, but still, he's a speedy wide receiver. Yes, I think this is a week-to-week situation. It would be a big surprise if he could play next week against the Steelers.
04:34It would be a hope that he could play in two weeks. And if the Ravens advance to the conference round, I think it becomes more of an expectation that he could return. So he's not done, but still, the news is not great.
04:51That is a great week-by-week breakdown of what Baltimore will have throughout this playoff run. Dr. Chao, the other quarterback in the matchup between the Packers and the Eagles is Jalen Hurts, who of course was concussed in the opening half of the Week 16 game against the Washington Commanders.
05:09From what you have heard or seen, what is his status right now? What is the process of getting out of the concussion protocol as the Eagles get ready to host the Packers on Sunday?
05:20I hear the chatter out of Philadelphia. He hasn't practiced in two weeks. They're worried, they're worried, they're worried. But it made sense to me that they weren't going to rush him back because any sort of setback or second concussion or any sort of setback would put him out a lot longer.
05:36So I think they were just playing it cautiously. Now, if he doesn't progress smoothly this week, if you see a DMP on Wednesday this week, if you don't see a quick progression to FP this week, then I think we can let the worrying begin.
05:52But at this point in time, I'm still, you know, I'm not in the building. It's hard to judge concussions by video from far away. But my expectation is he's actually fine and will be good to go.
06:05Doc, let me ask you a quick question, too, because that big game last night, we might have had a casualty late. Kevin Zeitler grabbed his right hamstring, one of the better offensive linemen in football. They do get a bye week here. Did you see that injury? And also, could this be a multi-week lingering one for him?
06:19Yeah, it does look like a hamstring injury for Zeitler. The question was, is it a mild hamstring strain that pulls up just in time, or is it significant? And that's the reaction. Or is it hopefully more just a cramp? It's hard to tell by video what it is, so it remains to be seen.
06:37More worry for the other cornerback with Carlton Davis already out with the foot issue in a boot, given the position that he has to play. Terry Arnold, that's the bigger worry for the Lions. More stuff on the defense. And just as we talked about here on Sports Grid, Alex Anzalone returned before the end of the season and looked just fine seven weeks from his broken forearm.
07:06For the health of those playoff teams, SICscore.com. That is SICscore.com, so you get the status of everybody in the entire picture throughout the postseason. Dr. Chow, thank you so much. More on the early lineup next.