Nationally, some might say that’s a gross overreaction, but we Texans fans know better. The guy went down on the first freaking play of the pre-season. Shock. I would have been less surprised if Sasquatch would have ridden a Unicorn into my kitchen.
Of course, now we come to find out that the injury “isn’t serious,” and that the Texans were apparently “very fortunate” that it wasn’t worse. Isn’t serious… very fortunate. Yeah, we were pretty fortunate that Ahman Green ONLY came away with a groin injury after he was blasted with that earth-shattering hit by……………………………NOBODY! Literally, nobody touched him! Yeah, really good luck for the Texans that instead of a groin injury inflicted by nobody – that Ahman’s spine wasn’t mangled by…. nobody. Fortunate that his knee or ankle wasn’t shattered into a thousand pieces by…. NOBODY!
Really though – we’ve all been saying it was only a matter of time, and it was. Even when this one heals up, it will be a matter of time until the next one. Meanwhile – since Mike Bell is no longer on the team, we’re once again going to have a shortage of bodies at the running back position in training camp – and when one of those bodies is Chris Brown, what exactly are we supposed to do? Is some other poor guy who’s killing himself for a roster spot now out of luck in favor of another free-agent back signing?
Like Matt and I discussed in the podcast, the Texans brain trust might just eat that salary cap hit if this keeps up. Personally, I think they should do it now. The Ahman Green signing was a failure from the start, and with the fragile Chris Brown right behind him – it’s probably just a matter of time (this week) that we’ll only have three healthy backs, and conditions will be ripe for them to be overworked in camp. I’m sure we’d all like to avoid that.
The way I see it – even when he comes back from this groin injury, you can set your watch in anticipation of the next one. Cut him now, cut him later – what’s the difference? In a way, it hurts the team more for him to be out now, than it will when he’s inevitably hurt in September. So let’s just tear off the band-aid now and get it over with.
What do you think? From a purely football and personnel perspective, devoid of anger and emotion – I think the guy has to go.
Another note quickly – I’m actually on the East Coast visiting family right now, so posts will be sparse this week, unfortunately. Here’s hoping everyone has a great week!
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Aug 11, 2008 at 13:42:16
I’m not sure how injury settlements work, but I have to imagine that would play in to this.
I mean, he’s not only eating up money, he’s eating up a roster spot. How much is that worth to you?
This is one of the worst personnel decisions that Smithiak have made. I could understand it if they got him for a song, but they didn’t. You just don’t sign 28 or 29 year old running backs. And you especially don’t sign 28 year old running backs with an injury history longer than War and Peace. And you ESPECIALLY don’t do it when you have cut your teeth on an offense that (supposedly) just plugs guys off the street in for 1000 yard seasons. I’ve never really bought into the “any running back will do” idea, but that doesn’t mean you go and sign Humpty Dumpty to play for you.
Aug 11, 2008 at 19:57:31
@ socctty. Even worse, he was 30 when we signed him. 28 would have been an improvement! (Sh*t.)
Aug 11, 2008 at 20:56:07
Chris , Green has been a consistent disappointment, I have wrtten volumes on this as well. I had hoped they would have cut him earlier in May. So now you have another blunder. Keeping him around.
Now move to the next blunder. Cause and effect. Since we have put our chips on Green other contigencies were neglected.
Today patience will win, Or is it patience. Kubiak and Smith have a lot of their own credibility invested in this decision also. So they will wait it out for a time. Looking at what we have I think you wait and see .Again. We now have limited options.
Hey Batman call Shaun Alexander.
Aug 11, 2008 at 22:46:23
Ugh, Shaun Alexander? That’s like wishing for Stalin in hopes to get rid of Lenin. (Okay, I tend to engage in hyperbole)
Aug 11, 2008 at 22:47:10
And I’m pretty sure Ron Dayne has better hands than Shaun Alexander.
Aug 12, 2008 at 15:49:49
he’s like a blind dog. he can survive for a little while, but really what’s the point?
Put him to sleep and cut his sorry ass.
Aug 13, 2008 at 10:39:01
As frustrating as A. Green has been, I don’t think it’s time to cut him.
I realize, that at this point, saying “If A. Green is healthy…” is like saying “If V. Young could read defenses…”, but still, if he were healthy, he seems like he still has some talent.
Basically, a healthy A. Green is better than whoever we might pick up in free agency right now. We’ve already paid for his services, so we might as well let him try to get healthy. On top of that, it’s still the preseason. Chris Brown still needs to get work behind this offensive line, and Walker, Taylor and Slaton all need the reps as well.
It’s a gamble as to whether or not A. Green will ever be healthy, but I think that at this point, the risk/reward is in favor of keeping him on the team. The next time he’s injured though, he needs to be shown the door, because if he gets injured again, it will mean that he’ll be injured during the regular season, and it’ll be dead weight on a 53 man roster instead of an 80 man roster.
Aug 13, 2008 at 11:38:38
@Tailgate Andy – It’s a good point you make. I also saw someone else say in a newspaper that “it’s not like the next great running back is being back by Ahman Green.”
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“Says Philip Buchanon about regaining his stride with Tampa after stints with Oakland and Houston: “They respect you (in Tampa). They make you feel like a man, and in certain places they didn’t make you feel that.” ” Source: http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/08/13/tampa-bay-buccaneers-preseason-one-liners-2/
Is Buchanon serious? They respected you in Houston, I’ll bet – until they realized that you suck in man coverage. You’re hanging out in Tampa, playing zone on virtually every snap. And you’re so awesome that your team spent their first-round pick on a legal-trouble-prone cornerback, the first time they’ve drafted a cornerback in the first round in 22 years. Sure thing, Pukecannon.
Aug 13, 2008 at 16:13:32
Philip Buchanon is on the short list of players I would like to see stabbed with a rusty icepick.