One of the Bucs' injured players, S John Lynch had to turn away from the Bucs' training room on Monday for a more pressing matter
Considering the required hours and the sometimes intense nature of the work, we won't go so far as to say the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training staff has it easy.
However, even Head Trainer Todd Toriscelli and his crew will admit that the Buccaneers are faring rather well in the injury department this season. For the most part, Tampa Bay has avoided the long-term injuries – such as the broken ankle suffered by Saints RB Ricky Williams on Sunday – and has had the majority of its players available each week.
On the other hand, no game passes without at least some minor bumps and bruises. Two Bucs got it a little worse than that on Sunday against the Packers: TE Dave Moore and S John Lynch. While Head Coach Tony Dungy gave a brief recount of their conditions in his Monday press conference, a visit to the training room filled in the details.
Moore, as you know, suffered a mild concussion on Sunday. Though the news didn't hit the press box until the third quarter, Moore actually took the fateful blow to the head in the second quarter as he was making a key 22-yard reception deep in Packer territory.
As Moore himself described it to Buccaneers.com on Monday afternoon, the helmet of the Packer tackler made contact with the left side of Moore's helmet, bashing it into Moore's head below his left ear (an angry red abrasion pinpoints the blow). Actually, Moore had to piece those parts of the event together later. At the time, he remembered nothing between turning to see the pass and sitting on the bench moments later; he had no recollection of making the catch, getting hit or coming off the field.
However, it was confirmed on Monday that Moore's concussion was very mild, and he won't miss any practice time, let alone Sunday's game in Chicago. Moore reported almost no lingering effects, nothing worse than what felt like 'a hangover', as he put it.
Still, Moore was kept on the bench by Toriscelli until the Bucs trainer was positive that Moore had fully regained his senses. To test Moore's readiness, Toriscelli gave him three words to remember: barracuda, yellow and helmet. The next two times Toriscelli checked back with the veteran tight end, he couldn't recall those words. When that and the rest of his bearings came back to him, Moore was permitted back into the game in the fourth quarter.
According to Dungy, Lynch's left thigh bruise is 'probably the most severe' of the Bucs' Sunday injuries. Toriscelli is cautiously optimistic that Lynch will be able to practice by midweek, but is currently listing him as questionable for Wednesday's workout. Complicating matters, but in a happy way, is the fact that Lynch wasn't able to visit the Bucs' training room on Monday as he was with his wife, Linda, for the impending birth of their second child. The Lynches' doctors were set to induce labor on Monday.
Toriscelli actually described Lynch's injury as two bruises. The first occurred to the inside part of his left thigh when a Packer helmet caught Lynch in the leg in the first quarter. Later in the second half, teammate Warren Sapp fell on the outside of Lynch's leg, compounding the discomfort. By the second half of the fourth quarter, Lynch was unable to run at full speed.
Toriscelli plans to treat the injury with two basic methods: application of ice and keeping the leg bent. The latter is important to keep Lynch from losing movement in the leg as it tries to stiffen.
A very conscientious and professional player, Lynch is likely to work on those two methods himself over the next two days. Of course, you couldn't blame him if his attention were elsewhere.
