The NFL doesn’t require teams to say anything about injuries until the time comes to file the first injury report in advance of the regular-season opener. This year, Ravens coach John Harbaugh plans to take advantage of that flexibility by saying as little as possible.
Via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, Harbaugh said Sunday that he won’t provide specifics about injuries or estimates regarding a player’s absence. So why that approach?
“Because last year I got asked about [Breshad] Perriman every day and I was wrong very single day,” Harbaugh said. “So, what’s the point?”
Well, the point is that the fans and media appreciate transparency, or at least efforts to be transparent. Providing basic information satisfies curiosity and creates the impression that the organization isn’t being unnecessarily secretive.
That said, there are strategic issues far more tangible and important than avoiding the embarrassment of constantly providing inaccurate injury information. Keeping the true nature of a player’s health situation quiet gives the team extra leverage when trying to acquire potential replacements.
That’s a far better reason than exasperation over one player whose status was never quite clear a year ago. And there’s a chance that’s the real reason Harbaugh has opted to restrict the information he’ll provide about injuries until disclosing that information becomes mandatory.
