[aeneas1]

hoping chao will weigh in on woods, kupp, talib, brown, zuerlein, hill, etc., guys who have missed more games than gurley over the past two seasons, wouldn't mind hearing what he thinks about goff's small hands and toothpick frame either, i.e. whether or not he can last another season, i'll tell ya, it's raining "legitimate concerns" in los angeles!

[AvengerRam]

Chao has been wrong enough times to say he’s not the last word on this stuff.

Still, there is legitimate concern over Gurleys knee.

Ad hominem attacks on Chao won’t change that.

I’m not in a position to cut and paste for you right now. I suggest you research Chao’s history and decide for yourself.

[max]

I’m not in a position to cut and paste for you right now. I suggest you research Chao’s history and decide for yourself.

You just reinforced my point.

You’re focusing on Chao, the issue is Gurley.

There was clearly something physically wrong with Gurleys knee. People here were in denial about that fact. How bad is it? We don’t know. Not you, not me, not Chao.

Maybe beating up Chao makes you feel better but it won’t make Gurleys knee better.

[Hacksaw]

Players play hurt and with pain all the time in the NFL. But his disappearance and a lack of clear explanation has put his knee under a microscope.
Is something hurt or hurting? Probably.
Is it a career ender?
I really doubt it,, at least not yet.

I don't know anything the rest of you don't, but my gut says opponent fans will still be wishing they had Todd Gurley on their team .

[snackdaddy]

I don't know how you can take anything out of the videos and pics. I saw nothing that would make me think he's fine. I saw nothing that would make me think there is something wrong.

All we have is what we know. He had a problem with the knee and missed the final two games in the regular season. Aside from that, we know he's an NFL running back who has been used heavily and probably should have his workload reduced if they want to avoid wearing him out. And they're addressing that by matching the offer for Malcolm Brown and drafting Henderson.

[AvengerRam]

You just reinforced my point.

You’re focusing on Chao, the issue is Gurley.

There was clearly something physically wrong with Gurleys knee. People here were in denial about that fact. How bad is it? We don’t know. Not you, not me, not Chao.

Maybe beating up Chao makes you feel better but it won’t make Gurleys knee better.

This thread is about comments made by Chao.

[aeneas1]

I don't know how you can take anything out of the videos and pics. I saw nothing that would make me think he's fine. I saw nothing that would make me think there is something wrong.

+1

All we have is what we know. He had a problem with the knee and missed the final two games in the regular season. Aside from that, we know he's an NFL running back who has been used heavily and probably should have his workload reduced if they want to avoid wearing him out.

and we know what snead, mcvay and gurley have told us: that he was fine during the postseason, that he was fine after the season, that surgery wasn't needed, and that resting his knee was the best approach... of course that repeated response from the rams struck more than a few as murky at best, and flat-out deceitful at worst.

And they're addressing that by matching the offer for Malcolm Brown and drafting Henderson.

of course if they didn't match brown or draft henderson who would have backed up gurley? davis and kelly, two guys who have played a combined 61 nfl offensive snaps in their young careers, two guys that the rams don't seem particularly excited about, so the brown and henderson thing strikes me as business as usual more than anything else, no?

[max]

This thread is about comments made by Chao.

What does that mean?

Are you now the thread police saying we must limit what we say in a thread to a specific germane thought that you decide is pertinent?

I hope thats not what you're saying, cause that is really fucked up.

Chao made comments about Gurley's knee. Gurley's knee should be up for discussion in any thread, especially this one.

[Elvis]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/spor ... l-doc.html

N.F.L. Injury Analysis as Fast as You Can Say Ouch


Dr. David Chao has plenty of screens going on the typical N.F.L. Sunday at his home in La Jolla, Calif. Credit Sandy Huffaker for The New York Times

By Zach Schonbrun
Dec. 13, 2018

The collision, in November, looked even worse in slow motion. New England Patriots running back Sony Michel had been hit so hard by the Jets’ defense that his back seemed to bend like a taco shell. He limped off the field.

But as doomsday proclamations from Patriots fans lit up social media, one Twitter account offered a cooler assessment. David J. Chao, better known as @ProFootballDoc, speculated that Michel was probably O.K.

“Hyperextension back injuries look bad and can cause pain but rarely lead to significant injury,” wrote Chao, who has an orthopedics practice. “Expect to see #SonyMichel return.”

Indeed, Michel was back on the field a few minutes later.

Chao, a former team doctor for the San Diego Chargers, was nowhere near the play, which took place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. But that hardly seemed to matter. Over the last five years, he has amassed more than 112,000 followers on Twitter with a knack for immediately assessing N.F.L. injuries from his couch in San Diego’s La Jolla neighborhood.

As a result, Chao has become a go-to expert for fans and fantasy players who want all the gory details of the game as quickly as they can get them.

He may also have become an asset for N.F.L. gamblers, particularly those looking to make in-game wagers and thus eager to find any sort of edge.

Having medical experts weigh in on prominent sports injuries is hardly new, of course. But the advent of social media has helped propel Chao and others toward another level of influence. They are, in effect, armchair doctors.



Chao has become prominent enough that people now routinely seek his advice on Twitter on how to heal faster from a torn rotator cuff or fix a balky knee. Another orthopedist, Mark Adickes, is employed by DirecTV to provide on-the-spot analysis of N.F.L. injuries on the Fantasy Zone channel.

Like Chao, Adickes has an N.F.L. background, having spent a half-dozen seasons as an offensive lineman for Kansas City and Washington.

There is also Jene Bramel, who has a background in pediatrics but has become another source for quick analysis of N.F.L. injuries while working from his home in western Ohio. He has nearly 38,000 followers on Twitter.

“I see it as an educational service,” Bramel said of his efforts. “Every week, there’s something a little bit different.”

There are, however, dissenters. Medical assessments during N.F.L. games strike some health professionals as seriously misguided. After all, judgments are being offered on players by doctors who have not examined them.

Leigh Ann Curl, a team doctor for the Baltimore Ravens and president of the N.F.L. Physicians Society, said that although certain injuries were more easily discernible from afar, any such diagnosis was at best an educated guess.

“You have to realize when you’re making those assumptions based on such few pieces of the puzzle, there’s going to be a lot of times those assumptions can be very wrong,” she said.



In any case, Chao’s stature is growing. He recently started a podcast that runs during the week and he writes a column about N.F.L. injuries for The San Diego Union-Tribune, for which he is paid. He also has a periodic role as an injury analyst on SiriusXM, for which he is also paid.

Chao’s game-day insights may also be attracting people who make N.F.L. in-game wagers. Those bets reflect a point spread that shifts in reaction to what is taking place on the field, which would obviously include injuries to significant players.

This form of wagering, which accounts for 22 percent of sports bets worldwide, according to the bookmaker William Hill, is becoming increasingly popular among N.F.L. fans. If Europe’s sports betting habits are any indication, it will probably gain even more of a foothold as gambling on mobile phones continues to proliferate throughout the country.

Meanwhile, in the background of Chao’s Twitter posts is the fact that he has a checkered professional history. While his medical license is active in California and he continues to run a practice in San Diego, he has twice been placed on probation.


Chao worked for years as a doctor for the San Diego Chargers. He says his experiences on the sideline help him diagnose injuries from his couch. Credit Denis Poroy/Associated Press

In 2012, he was reprimanded by the California medical board in connection with drunken-driving episodes. In 2014, he was put on probation by the board as a result of patient complaints. Two years later, he was again punished, this time for his lack of record-keeping in connection with the sleep medication Ambien, which Chao prescribed to the former Chargers linebacker Junior Seau before Seau committed suicide in 2012.

And in 2013, Chao was singled out by DeMaurice Smith, the head of the players’ union, who called for the Chargers to fire him.

Chao’s fellowship with the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons remains suspended, and he has not been certified with the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery since his 2014 probation.

Asked about these issues, Chao defended his credibility as a doctor, and a number of Chargers players have come to his defense over the years. As for his growing Twitter presence, he maintains that his long experience on the sideline should establish him as a credible commentator. And he has become more savvy about the “gotcha” culture of social media.

For instance, when he spots an injury, he now typically says, “By video, it appears to me. …”

“I’ve adapted,” Chao said. “It’s making it clear that I’m not reporting from a source. Believe it if you want, but it’s my impression.”

Chao also acknowledges to his followers that his opinions are not always perfect. But he also frequently cites his accuracy percentage, which he says is above 90 percent since he started posting in 2013, not long after he stepped away from his post with the Chargers, a position he had held since 1997.

It was then that he started a Twitter account under a pseudonym, @ProFootballDoc, to talk about the injuries he was observing. At first, he said, he wanted his account to remain anonymous, but he eventually attached his real name to the feed.

“I certainly didn’t have a thought-out plan,” he said. “I thought I’d try it for a few weeks. Very quickly, it caught on.”

[Hacksaw]

Ciao Chao.