Hear me out...Yes losing #1 and #2 is bad. Hell, that can cripple a team. However, there is nothing more damaging to a team than losing your LT and your top pass rusher. I don't care who the QB is...if you don't have a top LT, your ability at QB won't matter. Losing Long, whether for 1 game or the season, is the worst injury the team can suffer. IMO everything starts with the LT and ends with the LT. Everything on D right now runs through Wake. His energy, his speed, his rush, and his ability...the strength of this D is built on what Wake brings to the team. No Wake means everything drops off...especially with the pass rush. Thigpen...there is a reason he has bounced around and was 3rd string. That being said...I feel like he could be serviceable. However, I don't think he can without Long. He is better on the run and throwing outside the pocket. However, that won't matter when D's contain those outside lanes and take that away from him.
Playing on Thursday night was already going to be tough. This makes it tougher, but I still think we can prevail. Hopefully Wake and Long can take a week off and come back. I hope the FO updates us soon.
This FO will be even more secretive this week I believe. We won't know about any of the injuries until the NFL rules say they must make the facts known. They are in super stealth mode this week.
