How NFL Players Take Care of Their Hands and Feet During a Brutal Season

Over the course of the lengthy and brutal N.F.L. season, gamers’ toes and fingers take a beating on almost each snap. Fingers are jammed, toes are stepped on, ankles are twisted, nails are damaged.

We spoke with six N.F.L. gamers all through the 2022 season concerning the accidents they play via and the way they cared for his or her fingers and toes, important leverage factors wanted for each run, block, catch and kick. Their behind-the-scenes routines have been meant to assist them make it via the season — however didn’t utterly keep off accidents.

Sept. 10 (Week 1)

Taking part in tight finish means catching passes from the quarterback. However it additionally means blocking far bigger defensive linemen and getting caught in the midst of piles of gamers, which may result in jammed fingers, twisted ankles and different small however painful accidents.

“It’s regular stuff,” Dissly mentioned about getting stepped on. “It normally hurts fairly good for 30, 60 seconds, relying on the gamers who stepped on you. It looks like if you stub your toe. It occurs zero to a few occasions a recreation. I by no means would come out throughout a recreation.”

Nov. 21 (Week 11)

In mid-November, Dissly dislocated the center finger on his proper hand. He didn’t recall exactly when and the way it occurred, however he did know that he popped the joint again into place whereas within the scorching tub after a recreation.

“I keep in mind, rattling, it damage,” Dissly mentioned.

Pressed for particulars, Dissly mentioned that he possible injured the finger whereas blocking on a working play. He reckons that he was making an attempt to get a defender’s fingers off him, and his center finger went sideways when it hit the opposite participant.

“I’m in a hybrid place,” Dissly mentioned, referring to his position as a blocker and a receiver. “You may’t actually keep away from it. You may’t play in Bubble Wrap.”

A knuckle on the finger ballooned, and he used ice for a number of days to scale back the swelling. Inside about two weeks, he recovered the total vary of movement, although the knuckle was nonetheless giant. He taped the finger to stabilize it.

“That is the time of 12 months when your fingers begin hurting,” Dissly mentioned. “You simply understand how your physique responds.”

Jan. 6 (Week 18)

Coming into the Seahawks’ recreation with Kansas Metropolis on Christmas Eve, Dissly had set personal records for catches (33), yards (330) and first downs (19). The Seahawks have been within the N.F.C. playoff hunt, too.

He added to these totals through the recreation, however he was banged within the knee and later positioned on the injured reserve record. The damage didn’t necessitate surgical procedure, however successfully ended Dissly’s season.

“I want I might end the season now as a result of I used to be feeling actually, actually good however soccer occurs and also you’ve acquired to reply to what occurs,” he mentioned two weeks later.

“Personally, there’s all the time stuff that I want I might have again,” Dissly mentioned. “You recognize, soccer isn’t good.”

Oct. 5 (Week 5)

Dye is a throwback to the period of Willie Lanier and Dick Butkus, when linebackers have been the powerful males of the locker room. No pedicures for him — he cuts his personal toenails.

“Nobody is touching my toes,” Dye mentioned. “They acquired totally different nicks and bumps. I broke my metatarsal like after I was 8 years previous, after which I tore a ligament in my ankle as a rookie.”

At the same time as he plies his commerce within the N.F.C. North, Dye, a Southern California native, refuses to put on gloves, a selection he briefly reconsidered final season after the Vikings misplaced a January recreation to the Packers in 11-degree temperatures in Inexperienced Bay, Wis.

“It wasn’t enjoyable,” Dye mentioned. “It wasn’t an excellent determination.”

Nov. 17 (Week 11)

Only a few days earlier, the Vikings had stunned the Buffalo Bills, 33-30, instantly basic that resulted in extra time to increase Minnesota’s document to 8-1.

“If you end up profitable, you’re feeling no ache,” mentioned Dye, who took most of his snaps with the particular groups unit that day in Orchard Park, N.Y.

He had gone via greater than 30 bandages every week to stave off infections from the quite a few nicks and cuts on his fingers. Dye mentioned he is aware of the variations between being damage and injured. He broke a thumb whereas on the College of Oregon that required 4 pins, a solid and a membership for him to maintain taking part in.

By this level within the season, Dye was spending extra time within the sauna — three or 4 days each week.

Dec. 14 (Week 15)

The bandages remained on Dye. The gloves is not going to come on regardless of approaching video games in Chicago and Inexperienced Bay.

“I’m going to make it one other season,” Dye mentioned.

Dye had a damaged index finger, nonetheless, for many of the season. Generally he taped it. He didn’t the earlier Sunday in opposition to the Lions and he felt it throbbing now.

“Someday, I simply overlook about it as a result of I’m so centered,” Dye mentioned.

Oct. 4 (Week 5)

Jones, 33, prides himself on his sturdiness on the offensive line, the place he’s concerned in collisions, scrums and shoving matches all through each recreation. In his first 10 seasons within the league, with the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans, he missed only one recreation to damage due to a concussion sustained in 2019.

“There’s by no means an off day,” he mentioned after the Titans cut up the primary 4 video games of the season. “At this level in my profession, I don’t know what finger hasn’t been dislocated or damaged. I put on a glove solid on my left hand as a result of I’ve broken the ligaments in my thumb thrice. On my proper hand, it’s been overwhelmed up and it’s been fastened up.”

Jones burnished his popularity as a no-holds-barred battler when he confronted the division-rival Colts in Week 7. Within the fourth quarter, he helped the Titans safe a 19-10 win by pushing a pile of players that included working again Derrick Henry, who was in a position to get a key first down.

Jones attributes a few of his success to an uncommon behavior of strolling barefoot on the sphere earlier than video games, one thing he started doing in highschool to honor his older brother, Clay, who helped increase him after their father, Steve, died.

Over time, the stroll has morphed right into a reconnaissance mission.

“It began as a ritual, however now I can see if the sphere’s moist on the market or slippery, and the fellows will ask me after I get again to the locker room,” Jones mentioned. “Some video games, the fellows want to change cleats.”

As a result of Jones performs within the center, his measurement 15 toes are sometimes stepped on or his ankles can roll. Earlier than each follow and recreation, he runs a lacrosse ball alongside the underside of his foot to loosen the muscle groups. Then a coach “spats” his toes by taping the skin of his footwear to supply stability and the reassurance that his laces received’t come untied.

“I put on the largest cleats with essentially the most safety as a result of if my toes aren’t good, I’m no good,” he mentioned.

Nov. 13 (Week 10)

Jones’s toes have been the least of his worries in a victory over the Denver Broncos in Week 10, when he sustained a concussion that compelled him to overlook the subsequent two video games.

“I’m simply comfortable to be again,” Jones told reporters after his return. “Going via this undoubtedly taught me some persistence right here. You need to be on the market with your folks. They’re household to me. It damage not being on the market with them.”

By the point Jones returned in Week 13, the Titans have been within the throes of what ended as an agonizing seven-game shedding streak. Then he had a second concussion in a Week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, successfully ending his season.

Sept. 28 (Week 4)

Zay Jones was feeling superb concerning the younger season, his first with the Jaguars after stints with the Payments and Raiders. In Week 3, he caught 10 passes for 85 yards and a landing in a blowout win over the Chargers.

However in follow a number of days later, he was working drills and landed awkwardly, spraining an ankle and stretching the tendons in his proper foot. It was unhealthy information for a participant whose job is to race downfield and reduce on a dime.

Jones’s ankle was so swollen that he couldn’t see the tendons on his foot, however he hadn’t damaged any bones.

“I attempted to stroll on it as regular as potential,” he mentioned. “I didn’t instantly put it in a boot or prohibit it in any method, as a result of I’m making an attempt to get my thoughts to coach my physique that, ‘Oh, it’s going to be OK.’”

Jones elevated the vary of movement in his foot to the purpose the place the ache was tolerable. He did steadiness and weight-bearing workouts like squats and continued his regular routine of loosening the muscle groups on the soles of his toes with a ball.

“My mind-set was, what can I do to be able to play?,” he mentioned. “If all I’ve is 80 %, I need to make sure that I can play at a excessive stage of 80 %.”

Oct. 30 (Week 8)

Jones returned to the sphere in Week 5 in a 13-6 loss to the woeful Houston Texans. Steadily, week after week, he grew to become certainly one of quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s favourite targets even because the staff continued to lose one-score video games in irritating trend.

“We did sadly lose some video games that I do know we wish again, however we are able to’t get these again,” Jones mentioned after the Jaguars’ 21-17 loss to the Broncos, when Lawrence threw an interception on the staff’s ultimate drive. The Jaguars left that recreation, held at Wembley Stadium in London, with a 2-6 document.

Dec. 15 (Week 15)

Jones had profession highs of 11 catches and 145 yards in an upset of the Baltimore Ravens in late November. His emergence helped the Jaguars nudge their method into the playoff dialog.

“My ankle is feeling significantly better, in order that’s the excellent news,” Jones mentioned after the Jaguars beat their A.F.C. South rivals, the Tennessee Titans, in mid-December. “The unhealthy information is I sort of acquired the opposite one banged up just a little bit.”

Jones mentioned he was damage when he stumbled into a number of different gamers on a display play. The damage wasn’t extreme, and he didn’t miss any video games. The subsequent week Jones caught six passes for 109 yards and three touchdowns because the Jaguars shocked the Dallas Cowboys, 40-34.

In all, Jacksonville received seven of their ultimate 9 video games to seize the A.F.C. South title for the primary time in 5 seasons.

“It’s been a loopy experience for us, but it surely’s made such a fantastic story,” Jones mentioned. “To make it this far and be wholesome is a blessing.”

Oct. 11 (Week 6)

Braden Mann punts, shares kickoff duties and is the holder on area purpose makes an attempt for the Jets. His fingers and toes work in live performance, however he isn’t fussy about their upkeep.

Mann avoids leather-based cleats, selecting to put on low cost artificial ones: He needs his foot to be as laborious as potential when it strikes the ball. To that finish, he wears a measurement 9 on his kicking foot though he sometimes wears a measurement 10½.

“Sport day is the toughest on my toes,” Mann mentioned. “They get abused as a result of I pull the laces tremendous tight. I don’t need any air to get between the ball and my foot. No further room. It received’t hit my foot laborious sufficient. After the sport, you’ll be able to see the indents on my toes from the laces.”

Mann avoids pedicures.

“I just like the calluses that I’ve — contained in the heel of my left foot the place I push off,” he mentioned.

Mann kicks about 200 balls every week. He says he’s an incessant toe and knuckle popper.

Nov. 17 (Week 11)

Chilly, windy climate is just not a punter’s pal. Whereas the Jets have been off to a 6-3 begin, Mann was spending further time engaged on his hand-eye-foot coordination.

“When your fingers are chilly, they don’t seem to be working as properly,” Mann mentioned. “And when it’s windy, you maintain the ball just a little longer earlier than you drop it. I’ve had a number of kicks that I’ve wished again, so I’m spending extra time on mechanics.”

Dec. 15 (Week 15)

The Jets’ late-season struggles on offense had Mann working laborious: He was tied for fourth-busiest punter within the N.F.L., ending with 83 punts.

On Nov. 20, with 5 seconds remaining and the Jets tied with New England, 3-3, the Patriots’ Marcus Jones returned Mann’s punt 84 yards, blowing by him for the game-winning landing. Afterward, the punter lamented leaving the ball low and quick.

“It was on me,” Mann mentioned. “I didn’t give the duvet staff an opportunity.”

Sept. 30 (Week 4)

McKitty has drawback digits. He suffers from turf toe on each of his massive ones, and he has damaged or dislocated each thumbs and each finger on both hand.

“It comes with the enterprise,” he mentioned. “As a decent finish, my fingers are extraordinarily necessary to me however on the identical time in danger. I do loads of blocking, they usually get caught in pads and bang into helmets. I broke one thumb that method and the opposite on a catch.”

Within the low season, McKitty does power and grip work, however he believes holistic upkeep is the important thing to enduring the pains of the season.

In the course of the season, he will get a manicure and pedicure at the least as soon as a month and, after every follow and recreation, warms his fingers in paraffin wax for 10 to fifteen minutes to ease any ache or stiffness. He additionally will get a therapeutic massage each Monday.

“The therapist spends loads of time on my fingers and toes,” he mentioned.

Nov. 17 (Week 11)

In Week 4, in early October, McKitty mentioned he “dinged” his proper wrist in a win over the Browns. However it had no impression on what he known as his worst recreation of his profession in opposition to the 49ers on Nov. 13.

McKitty is primarily a blocker who isn’t focused by quarterback Justin Herbert. That modified when tight finish Gerald Everett injured his groin within the second quarter. Herbert discovered McKitty with what would have been a 35-yard landing cross — if he hadn’t dropped it. He caught simply three of his six targets, and the Chargers misplaced, 22-16.

“I felt terrible,” he mentioned, “however I’ve good teammates, they usually lifted me up.”

Dec. 14 (Week 15)

The Chargers have been 7-6 and simply outdoors the playoff image after Week 14. McKitty had developed blood blisters on his fingers.

“I forgot to chop my fingernails, they usually acquired bent again,” McKitty mentioned.

To battle late-season fatigue, on his off days McKitty joined Chargers linebacker Kenneth Murray at a close-by swimming pool the place they did underwater workouts.

“Simply as necessary are the respiratory workouts we do,” McKitty mentioned. “The purpose is to construct stamina for a fast restoration.”

“I need to be prepared for a playoff run,” he added.

The Chargers received their subsequent three video games, clinching a playoff spot for the primary time since 2018.