So many quarterback injuries, so little time. Welcome to Football Friday on Injury Territory.

Will Carroll and Edward Egros start with Sam Darnold, who’s back after the hip subluxation and glute tendon issue that made his return more complicated than simply waiting for the joint to feel better. What should we expect from Darnold, what does his return mean for the Seattle Seahawks, and—because this is the NFL—what could it mean for your wallet?

Then Edward’s research on how quarterbacks get hit suddenly becomes very real. We look at the injuries to Jaxson Dart and Jayden Daniels, the mechanisms behind them, and what the data can—and can’t—tell us about whether a particular kind of QB hit is more likely to lead to missed time. Sometimes the numbers answer the question. Sometimes football immediately finds a new way to complicate it.

We also explain what’s actually happening with Puka Nacua. His psoas/core issue is a good example of why “core injury” can be an almost useless description without understanding the anatomy, the demands placed on the muscle and what Nacua has to be able to do before he can play effectively again.

Finally, the San Francisco 49ers keep losing defenders, including Nick Bosa, and at some point the injury report stops being a list of unavailable players and starts becoming a question about whether a defense can still function. Will and Edward look at what San Francisco has left, what all those missing pieces mean together, and whether the 49ers can stop anyone while so much of their defense is standing on the sideline.

It’s Football Friday: injuries, mechanisms, return-to-play decisions, data and the injury intelligence you need before Sunday.

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