10-24-2017, 11:46 AM
At the last open scrimmage before the 2016 season, Love did not play due to an ankle injury. Shaw told the media that he was holding Love out of the scrimmage for "precautionary" reasons, but we could clearly see that Love was still in a walking boot. And sure enough, Love didn't play until 3-4 weeks later (our 2nd game of the season).Â
I don't think this ankle sprain is as bad as that one, but this tells us (a) that Love has a history of ankle problems (not sure if it's the same one this time); and (b) that we shouldn't read too much into Shaw's reports such as "he could have played the 2nd half at Oregon" or even "he's a game-time decision". Shaw will rightly want to keep the opponent guessing if there's any slight bit of gray area about his readiness.
As electrifying as the H-Man race might be, I would prefer for them to sit Love at OSU unless he's truly 100%. The meat of our schedule is coming up. In my opinion, it's not worth the risk of playing him against an inferior opponent that we ought to be able to beat easily without him.Â
Team first. Individual accolades are just an ancillary by-product of good team decisions and plays. Â
I don't think this ankle sprain is as bad as that one, but this tells us (a) that Love has a history of ankle problems (not sure if it's the same one this time); and (b) that we shouldn't read too much into Shaw's reports such as "he could have played the 2nd half at Oregon" or even "he's a game-time decision". Shaw will rightly want to keep the opponent guessing if there's any slight bit of gray area about his readiness.
As electrifying as the H-Man race might be, I would prefer for them to sit Love at OSU unless he's truly 100%. The meat of our schedule is coming up. In my opinion, it's not worth the risk of playing him against an inferior opponent that we ought to be able to beat easily without him.Â
Team first. Individual accolades are just an ancillary by-product of good team decisions and plays. Â