Brian Billick had a lot to say after the Monday Night Football loss to the Patriots.
“Our fans deserve better than this,” Billick said. “We have a responsibility to them, and we’re aware of that. What we have to do — what we’re obligated to do — is fight through this. Give everything we have through this month. We’ve hit the trifecta this season: too many turnovers, too many penalties, too many injures, especially to key players. Two of those we can control, and we haven’t. But, you have to respect our players for the way they keep fighting through all of this, just like they did against the Patriots.”
While I appreciate him being candid, the proof is in the pudding.
What does he plan on doing to get the team back on track? Losers of 6 in a row, it appears that Billick has completely lost this team. They’re undisciplined, they’re unfocused — they’re just, uh, bad.
Air-ing out the problem
Injuries and turnovers have taken their toll on the Ravens — and one player in particular: Steve McNair. Having tweaked his groin on the 2nd play of the Monday Night Football season opener in Cincinnati, McNair managed to fumble his way to the drain, just in time to see the hopes of a strong start to the 2007 campaign swirling away out of reach.
Then it was announced last week before the Patriots game that McNair would undergo season-ending shoulder surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff.
“[The surgery] was needed,” Billick said after practice yesterday. “There was some … labrum [damage] that was more severe. Yet the prognosis is good that it should be fully healed over a six- to eight-week period.”
So where does that put our Quarterback situation? We have a capable back-up in Kyle Boller shouldering the load (pun intended) in McNair’s stead and a Heismann trophy winning back-up in Troy Smith who has yet to take a snap under center in a regular season NFL contest.
“I think [McNair] can come back next year,” Billick said. “That’s Steve’s choice, where he is in his career and what he wants to do going forward. … He’s dealt with injuries before, certainly, and this is not one that has a long prognosis for rehab.”
I’m sorry, but Billick is way off base with his idea that the rehab process won’t be that long. Baseball players routinely have torn rotator cuffs surgically repaired and the success rate varies greatly. Scott Rolen, the third basemen for the St. Louis Cardinals, has a history of shoulder injuries. Suffering a rotator cuff injury in 2005, Rolen’s production steadily declined from year to year as he saw his playing time diminish with further shoulder-related injuries and surgical procedures.
The question remains, though: will McNair bounce back and be the QB that we saw in 2006? Or will be see a return of the 2007 McNair? Or worse?
Unfortunately, time will tell. With the Ravens trying to prop open a Super Bowl window with any spare object they can find, a wait-and-see approach is not something Biscotti and the front office can afford to have.
The long 