Could NFL Punish Colts for Covering Up Andrew Luck’s Rib Injury?
If Fox Sports Jay Glazer’s initial report is accurate, the Indianapolis Colts organization could eventually face league punishment for not disclosing Andrew Luck‘s rib injury on their weekly injury reports:
Still hearing it's shoulder but if @JayGlazer report is right, Colts have to answer why luck is playing and why it's not on injury report.
— Bob Kravitz (@bkravitz) November 1, 2015
The Colts failure to disclose Luck’s rib injury would be a violation of the league’s injury report policy, which reads as follows:
"“It is NFL policy that information on all injured players must be supplied by clubs to the league office, the opposing team and local media each game week of the regular season and postseason (including for the two Super Bowl teams the week between the Championship Games and the Super Bowl). The information must be credible, accurate, and specific within the guidelines of the policy.”"
"“All players with significant or noteworthy injuries must be listed on the report, even if the players takes all of the reps in practice, and even if the team is certain that he will play in the upcoming game. The is especially true of key players and those players whose injuries have been covered extensively by the media”"
"“The policy if of paramount importance in maintaining the integrity of the game.”"
Of course, the NFL is now aware of Luck’s potential rib injury and will be looking into the matter per ProFootballTalk:
NFL on report that Colts QB Andrew Luck has been playing with broken ribs not disclosed on injury report: "We will look into it."
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) November 1, 2015
CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora speculates that any league penalties could include fines or even loss of draft picks:
If any Andrew Luck injury was not disclosed on injury report, NFL will review it. Possible penalties can include fines/loss of pick
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) November 1, 2015
That being said, I can understand why the Colts organization may not have wanted to report Luck’s rib injury if true. A shoulder injury is one thing, but if the team discloses that Luck has a rib injury, where do people realistically think defensive lineman are going to aim when hitting Luck?
Square in the chest.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t matter though when it comes to league rules; however, which the Colts may have violated at this point. We’ll be sure to update the situation as further news comes in, so stay tuned.