MMRThe final weekend of the 2008 NFL regular season was not without its share of drama.

From playoff scenarios shaking out all over the league to stud starters taking a breather, week 17 was just a microcosm of the entire 2008 campaign. And in between those two extremes were, of course, a few costly injuries.

But first, a couple of studly running backs returned in week 17 to pedestrian territory. Marion Barber came in healthy-ish against the Eagles but was held in check by a tenacious defense. Even worse for the Cowboys, Barber put the ball on the turf inside the Eagles’ five-yard line in the 3rd quarter, which resulted in the ball being returned 96 yards for a Philly touchdown. If the game was not over at that point, Barber’s fumble surely was the coup de gras.

Frank Gore also returned to action for the 49ers in a meaningless game. He started ahead of DeShaun Foster but was vultured of a touchdown by quarterback Shaun Hill early in the contest and later supplanted by Foster. The good news here is that Gore did not reinjure his gimpy ankle and should be able to make a full recovery before the start of mini-camps.

Ben Roethlisberger [QB, Steelers]

From NFL GridIron Gab:

The injury happened as Browns LB Willie McGinest took down Roethlisberger and his head hit off the turf.  The franchise QB did move his hands and legs, but had to be carted off the field after he was strapped to a stretcher.

Uh-oh. Bad news for Big Ben’s fantasy owners as he left the contest fairly early in the game, though it was unknown whether or not he was slated to play at all in the second half. This could have been even worse news, however, for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Luckily, however, it appears the oft-injured quarterback only suffered a slight concussion. While that is never good news, the injury seemed much worse as Roethlisberger laid on the turf for more than 10 minutes.

The good news here is that Pittsburgh will enjoy a two-week layoff to give Roethlisberger some time to recover.

Tony Romo [QB, Cowboys]

From The Dallas Morning News:

Tony Romo’s three turnovers were momentarily meaningless Sunday night when players started yelling in the shower after the quarterback collapsed from a rib injury.

Romo should be OK, but the Cowboys need to be a little concerned with his lack of productivity in must-win December games.

Fantasy owners, meanwhile, likely will rank Romo as a top-5 quarterback heading into the 2009 season and rightfully so. With the weapons Dallas figures to return on offense, it would be hard to imagine Romo not having another solid fantasy season.

Cadillac Williams [RB, Buccaneers]

From the St. Petersburg Times:

RB Cadillac Williams appears to have torn the patellar tendon in his left knee, one year after sustaining the same injury to his right knee.

Of all people. Williams worked so hard last offseason to return to football action, something many critics thought he would never do. And now this, on the very last game on the year.

Williams was having his best game of the season against the Raiders before going down. The injury does not appear to be as serious as his previous injury, but this puts him in Deuce McAllister territory. His now-delicate knees will limit his open-field speed and elusiveness, two of his better qualities coming out of college.

Tom Brady [QB, Patriots]

From ProFootballTalk:

Per Tom Curran of NBCSports.com, starter Tom Brady remains “well behind schedule” in recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL and torn MCL in his left knee suffered in the first quarter of the first game of the season.

Problems arose when an infection invaded Brady’s knee.  After six weeks of IV antibiotics and several additional procedures, Curran reports that the ACL and MCL are still “loose.”  There’s also scar tissue in the knee, which is limiting mobility and which might have to be removed surgically.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King later disputed this report on NBC’s Football Night in America, saying that sources close to Brady claim he is ahead of schedule following knee surgery.

Now that the Patriots have been eliminated from playoff contention — which, by the way, is an absolute travesty being that they finished the season with 11 wins — all of the talk will be about Brady and Matt Cassel. What the Patriots do about Cassel will speak volumes about Brady’s progress, so the next few weeks (months?) will be interesting to watch.

LaDainian Tomlinson [RB, Chargers]

From NBC Sunday Night Football:

Andrea Kramer reported from the sidelines of last night’s Chargers-Broncos game that San Diego running back LaDainian Tomlinson suffered a strained abdominal muscle in the second half.

Kramer went on to say that the Chargers expect Tomlinson back for next weekend’s playoff tilt with the Indianapolis Colts. Tomlinson said immediately after the game that the team will re-evaluate the injury today to determine his status for this weekend’s game.

Meanwhile, LT was having his best game of 2009 with 90+ yards on the ground and three rushing scores before leaving the contest. It was the type of vintage LT performance fantasy owners pined for all season and watching it unfold during a non-fantasy week for most had to frustrate more than a handful of his owners, yours truly included.

Nate Burleson [WR, Seahawks]

From the Seahawks Insider:

Burleson said he is ahead of schedule in his rehab from knee surgery and that, 3 1/2 months after having the surgery, they are ready to put him on a running program. He said he does not know yet if he will be available for OTAs or training camp, but he thinks he will be ready for camp and the start of next season.

Some good news for Seattle’s top receiver heading into 2008. His presence in the offense and on special teams was missed by the Seahawks this year, but he appears to be on track to return to the field for the start of 2009.

Better news for the Seahawks is that Deion Branch now appears to be fully healthy and will reclaim his role as the No. 1 wide receiver in that offense barring injury this offseason. Branch is poised to be a nice sleeper heading into the 2009 fantasy football season.

Aaron Rodgers [QB, Packers]

From the Green Bay Press Gazette:

But after Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Detroit Lions, Rodgers plans to meet with team’s medical staff to determine what, if any, course of action will be needed to ensure that his right shoulder is healed by next season.

Rodgers’ first season as the signal caller in Green Bay did not go exactly as he had hoped. The pressure and expectations heaped upon his shoulders at the beginning of the year took their toll on the young QB, and now one of those shoulders could need offseason surgery.

If Rodgers cannot turn things around in the next two seasons, he may never step out of the shadow of Green Bay legend Brett Favre. He did have a nice season for fantasy owners in 2008, though, so he should see a nice bump in fantasy value heading into 2009 — granted that he recovers from shoulder shoulder if he elects to have it.

Brett Favre [QB, Jets]

From ProFootballTalk:

So quarterback Brett Favre’s shoulder has been bothering him for several weeks.

But he didn’t undergo an MRI exam of the joint.

And now that the 2008 season is over for the Jets, Favre reportedly will have an MRI.

You cannot talk about Aaron Rodgers without talking about Favre, and vice-versa. Both of these guys had disappointing ends to what started as a promising season, and now both are sharing a common ailment.

It is not known yet whether or not Favre will return to play another season in the NFL. Speculation has it that he is done in New York with the Jets, but until Favre comments publicly on his status all bets are off.

The MMR will continue to run every Monday morning as scheduled during the regular season. To stay updated on current NFL injuries later in the week keep an eye on Football Jabber’s injury column, The Bedpan.

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