Saints hire Ted Rath as director of sports science, former Eagles director of sports performance (3 Viewers)

[Hedon James]

This is a move I've been waiting to see, as our injury history for the past 3 seasons has been atrocious...one of the worst in the league. Finding the right strength/training/conditioning coach will have as much effect on this team as the right HC, right OC and right DC. It's THAT damn important.

With that said, I know very little about this guy and injury history of teams he's been in charge of. He came from the Eagles, but he hasn't worked with CKM before. So is this the RIGHT hire? Or a good hire? Or just "a move"?

 

[Trey W.]

Yeah, if he can somehow stop all the knee, ankle and concussion injuries, we will be in business. I still haven't found all the soft tissue injuries everyone has been talking about lately.

Knee and ankle injuries are soft tissue (muscle, ligaments, & tendons) injuries. Proper conditioning and strength training are vital to avoiding soft tissue injuries.

Granted there is no training or conditioning that can stop an injury from being rolled up on, tackled or blocked low at the knees, and similar incidences.

Proper conditioning means players are not as fatigued during the game which in turn sacrifices form leading players or overreach a block, make a sloppy cut, use bad form in tackling, etc. which leads to joints being over extended. Also, proper muscle balance and strength can take stress off of joints, tendons, and ligaments which hold the joints together. Muscle imbalance is a major factor in tendon & ligament injuries.

Therefor, the strength and conditioning coach and staff involved are key to avoiding injuries and keeping the team healthy.

 

[saintfan1972]

Knee and ankle injuries are soft tissue (muscle, ligaments, & tendons) injuries. Proper conditioning and strength training are vital to avoiding soft tissue injuries.

Granted there is no training or conditioning that can stop an injury from being rolled up on, tackled or blocked low at the knees, and similar incidences.

Proper conditioning means players are not as fatigued during the game which in turn sacrifices form leading players or overreach a block, make a sloppy cut, use bad form in tackling, etc. which leads to joints being over extended. Also, proper muscle balance and strength can take stress off of joints, tendons, and ligaments which hold the joints together. Muscle imbalance is a major factor in tendon & ligament injuries.

Therefor, the strength and conditioning coach and staff involved are key to avoiding injuries and keeping the team healthy.

Ok. Good point. But, how many of the knee injuries that we had were non contact? I'm asking because I don't know

 

[3ParStillDriver]

Not too many. Most of our non-contact injuries were muscle strains, ligament strains. Hamstrings, toe, peck (I think we had 1 of those?) etc.

Knee and ankle "tweaks" are kind of off the table for discussions. Those occur to every athlete and every sport, plus its an injury that can't be proven and normally is fine after a few days of rest and can usually be played through. If a player "quits" on the team or wants time off, this is an easy injury to claim and get away with. While our players didn't quit on DA as bad as the Chargers defensive players quit on Staley, there were still some clear signs. So its possible a player or two took advantage.

 

[Summed7]

 

[texasjefe]

Just like this board's culture will always have tacoes, can he play safety, and Walter Thomas....

we must all pause in reverence because the phrase "Sports Science" has been invoked again.

 

[Bill]

If this actually does make a difference in keeping the team healthier, this could be a huge impact to our record. Thinking of how much health (or lack thereof) has impacted our success lately....

There's no 'could' about it. It would have had an impact for sure. We'll never know for sure, but it's hard to imagine that we wouldn't have been the division champs last season if our key players hadn't started dropping like flies after our first two big victories. Frankly there's no way that Dennis Allen isn't still our head coach if it were not for all the crippling injuries the team sustained in 2024. I'm not saying the Saints would have contended for the NFC Championship or the Superbowl, but they would definitely have had a winning season and maybe more.