Within the span of a single quarter on Sept. 20, four different NFL players suffered torn ACLs.

This destructive period started in the first quarter of a game between the San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets, when 2019 defensive rookie of the year Nick Bosa went down with an ACL tear. On the same drive, his teammate Solomon Thomas fell to the turf with the exact same injury. In a different game happening simultaneously, Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants tore his ACL on the first play of the second quarter. Then in a concurrent game, Courtland Sutton of the Denver Broncos fell prey to the same fate.

Immediately, fans began speculating and finger-pointing over this sudden rash of injuries. Chapman Director of Athletic Training and Sports Medicine Pam Gibbons said there are a variety of rationales that could be attributed to an uptick in injuries across the NFL, lack of preparation being chief amongst them.

“If you look back at football seasons from the past, you’ll see that in four weeks of preseason, the injury rate is (higher than the regular season),” Gibbons said. 

So in reality, there could be a simple explanation. A 2008 study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine showed preseason games posed a real risk of injury to players. In a normal NFL season, players report to training camp around mid-July to begin workouts, and prior to a regular September start, teams play four preseason games to prepare for the regular season. 

This year, however, training camp started at the end of July and workouts didn’t intensify until mid-August, when preseason would usually be underway. Meanwhile, the regular season began in September without any preseason play – and that aforementioned study demonstrated that injuries occur five times more often in preseason games than in training camp. Gibbons believes recent injuries across the NFL can be attributed to the abrupt start.

“When you eliminate that period, you’re starting the season in week one with all of your starters playing four quarters,” Gibbons said. “The people getting injured are the starters, as opposed to the people that nobody knows.”

At the beginning of the preseason, NFL teams keep large rosters and cut players throughout four weeks as they get injured or underperform. Better players don’t play much, in an effort to give underdogs more playing time to see if they have a legitimate shot at making the opening day roster. Teams don’t have that luxury this season, as starters have had to jump into four quarters of hard-hitting action immediately.

While the season will continue as normal, many fans may wonder about the severity of an ACL injury and when they might be able to see their favorite player – Bosa, Thomas, Barkley or Sutton – back on the field. 

Brittany McPherson, a senior guard on Chapman’s women’s basketball team, knows a lot about ACL tears – she was out for her entire sophomore season after suffering one in the summer of 2018. 

“It was non-contact and I knew immediately it was something bad,” McPherson said. “I knew I had a long journey ahead of me.”

Once cleared to play, McPherson said the hardest part was coming back mentally. It took around one month for her to get her confidence on the hardwood back. However, once she took the time to acclimate herself to the court, McPherson felt almost back to normal.

As emphasized by McPherson’s story, Gibbons emphasized the importance of a proper recovery for ACL injury, as coming back too early could hinder any repairs the ligament could have made. So for these injured stars and their fans, it may be best for them to stay patient.

“It’s like baking cookies,” Gibbons said. “You’re not going to take them out after five (minutes); they're not cookies yet. You have to leave (the ACL) for a period of time, so the body can do what the body does in terms of healing.”