really thinking about our health and not trying to go as hard, not like you have pads on," Ware said...

1. Injuries come frequently despite advances in safety, sports
medicine and training
really thinking about our health and not trying to go as hard, not like you have pads on," Ware said.
ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND OF JULY 26 & 27 - FILE - In this May 27, 2014, file photo, Dallas
Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee (50) is helped off the field by head athletic trainer Jim Maurer, left,
and associate athletic trainer Britt Brown, right, after suffering an unknown left leg injury during an
NFL football organized team activity in Irving, Texas. Officials are blowing whistles and coaches are
critiquing every minute of it as they try to figure which of these 90 players will survive the end-o-
-August cuts to 53.
The intensity ratchets up, careers are on the line and injuries are bound to happen.
"You try to do everything you can," Fox said. "What
we can do is protect them as much as possible
through training and technique."
That involves adaptive, specialized, neuromuscular
programs for players at different positions. 13, 2013,
file photo, Cincinnati Bengals' Giovani Bernard (25)
runs downfield as Buffalo Bills' Kiko Alonso closes in during the second half of an NFL football game
in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Tom Lynn, File)Â (The Associated Press)
Now that training camps are underway, team owners and fantasy football fans alike are holding their
collective breath, praying to reach the regular season with their rosters intact.

2. Chances are they won't.
Three playmaking linebackers didn't even make it through the offseason healthy: Dallas' Sean Lee,
Buffalo's Kiko Alonso and Atlanta's Sean Weatherspoon, all hurt in seemingly tame circumstances.
August inevitably will be filled with more cringes and crutches, even though the NFL has tried to
make the game safer in recent years. So, we want to train them to do their jobs as much as
possible."
Teams have changed the way they have players train and rehab from injuries in recent years.
Weight rooms are no longer a bunch of bench presses and barbells where brute force is celebrated.
"Football is combative and injuries are part of the game, whether it's the offseason, training camp,
regular season or even in the playoffs."
Or working out back home, as Alonzo was in Oregon last month when he tore an anterior cruciate
ligament.
Held out of organized team activities to continue his recovery from a foot injury, Weatherspoon was
running under the supervision of the team's medical staff when he tore an Achilles tendon last
month.
That sent the Falcons scrambling like the Bills and Cowboys to redo their defensive blueprint.
Lee tore his left ACL in May when his leg slid out from under him during a non-contract drill and
rookie guard Zack Martin rolled over him.
Relatively tame to begin with, OTAs across the NFL were decidedly more docile after Lee's 2014
season ended on the first day of the Cowboys' offseason practices. "We talked about when you're
practicing against each other, being smart, trying not to finish. His injury left the Cowboys without
their locker room leader just four months after franchise sacks leader DeMarcus Ware was waived.
Ware gathered with his new teammates the next morning in suburban Denver, Lee's injury
dominating the meeting as the Broncos prepared to begin their own non-padded practices.
"First of all, the players, we're really concerned ... (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)Â (The Associated
Press)

3. ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND OF JULY 26 & 27 - FILE - In this Oct. So it's something you try to avoid,
but no matter how hard you try, sometimes it just happens."
___
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL
___
Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/arniestapleton
. The league has placed limits on padded practices and implemented more rules changes to protect
players on both sides of the ball.
"Despite all the advances in sports medicine, nutrition and training, we just can't prevent all
injuries," said Dr. A lineman is different than a wide receiver and very different than a corner and a
safety. Ed Laskowski, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center in Rochester,
Minnesota. They have become state-of-the-art complexes with cutting edge technology where
dynamic movement and plyometric programs help keep players out of the training room.
Some strength and conditioning coaches such as Denver's Luke Richesson apply modern workout
techniques like those used in mixed martial arts in their specialized programs.
Still, guys are going to get hurt.
"Really, regardless of what time of the year, as a head coach and an organization, you hold your
breath," said Broncos coach John Fox, who stood on the sideline at the Super Bowl alongside five

4. defensive starters, including Von Miller, in street clothes. Three playmaking linebackers did not
even make it through the offseason healthy: Alonso, Dallas' Sean Lee and Atlanta's Sean
Weatherspoon, all hurt in seemingly tame circumstances. "A tailback's going to be widely different
than a lineman. 8, 2013, file photo, Green Bay Packers' Myles White, left, catches a pass in front of
Atlanta Falcons' Sean Weatherspoon during the second half of an NFL football game in Green Bay,
Wis. So, there are different exercises they must do to maintain flexibility and stability in their joints,
especially if they're coming off an injury.
"You don't train all football players the same," Laskowski said. Three playmaking linebackers did not
even make it through the offseason healthy: Lee, Buffalo's Kiko Alonso and Atlanta's Sean
Weatherspoon, all hurt in seemingly tame circumstances. You get four practice games to work on
your finishing against opponents. (AP Photo/Gary Wiepert File)Â (The Associated Press)
ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND OF JULY 26 & 27 - FILE - In this Dec. Three playmaking linebackers did
not even make it through the offseason healthy: Weatherspoon, Dallas' Sean Lee and Buffalo's Kiko
Alonso, all hurt in seemingly tame circumstances. He noted there was a fine balance between "just
taking care of each other but being able to get your mental reps in and still being able to be physical
(and) having the right technique."
Now that training camps have started, practices are a lot more physical.
In 11-on-11 drills, there's some 4,500 pounds of bodies banging around, with linemen engaging each
other and speedy athletes darting every which way. A cornerback, for instance, has to be able to
backpedal, run sideways and twist and turn on the fly in ways linemen don't