JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – You can't help your team if you're in the training room instead of on the field. Injuries are just part of life in the NFL. It's usually not if you get injured, it's when and how long you'll be out. Often times injuries are a freak occurrence and some teams are luckier than others.
The folks over at Football Outsiders have calculated the adjusted number of games lost for each team during the 2014 and 2015 NFL seasons. The AGL metric is based on two major principles:
Recommended Videos
(1) Injuries to starters, injury replacements, and important situational reserves matter more than injuries to benchwarmers; and (2) Injured players who do take the field are usually playing with reduced ability, which is why AGL is not based strictly on whether or not the player is active for the game, but instead is based on the player's listed status that week (IR/PUP, out, doubtful, questionable, or probable).
Eagles head coach Chip Kelly has fully embraced sports science since arriving in Philadelphia. His non-traditional approach to training has been debated in NFL circles. But perhaps Kelly actually knows what he's doing. According to this study the Eagles have been the healthiest team in the NFL for the past two seasons.
The Jaguars ranked 21st in 2013 and moved up one spot to No. 20 in 2014. Luck hasn't been on the side of the Jaguars 2015 rookie class. Defensive End Dante Fowler (No. 3 overall pick) tore his left ACL less than an hour into the Jaguars first minicamp. He will miss the entire season.
Safety James Sample was taken in the fourth-round and he broke his right arm at OTA's. He is expected to return at some point during training camp.