NFL Removes “Probable†Status on Injury Report
Injuries are undoubtedly the biggest factor in an NFL team’s success or failure, and the uncertainty of knowing whether or not a key player will start next week’s game is enough to drive fans mad. On Sunday, the league alleviated some of that pressure with the announcement that the “probable†designation would no longer be an option when filing injury reports.
In previous years, the “probable†status was used to describe players that had at least a 75% chance playing their next game. But with over 95% of players given that designation actually suiting up the following week, the NFL decided the term was less of an official status and more of an arbitrary definition used solely for gamesmanship; keeping the other team just a little bit unsure of exactly who they would be facing.
Instead, the injury report will now only carry three classifications: out, doubtful and questionable. “Out†is a certainty that the invidual won’t play. “Doubtful†prescribes the player as “unlikely†to participate, changed from a 25% likelihood last year. “Questionable†defines a player’s “uncertainty†to play, changed from a 50% chance in previous seasons.
The league’s intentions of streamlining the system are sound, but one has to wonder if NFL teams will simply shift their healthiest players into the “questionable†category instead. The old rules certainty didn’t stop Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who used to repeatedly list quarterback Tom Brady as “probable†with a purported shoulder injury for three years.
