Reading AJC colleague Ken Sugiura's accounting of yet more injuries to key Georgia Tech players reminded me of an exchange between Paul Johnson and a reporter after the loss to North Carolina.
Johnson was asked if he’s ever had a season in which so many key players suffered injuries.
“Don’t think so,” Johnson said, “but nobody cares.”
Johnson said it sardonically, as he tends to do, but he’s right: No one wants to hear about injuries when a team isn’t meeting expectations. There’s a fine line between explanations and excuses and, when it comes to injuries, coaches and players can’t go there without sounding like whiners.
Think about it: There’s a handy list of clichés available for them use, so as to signal that they are not making excuses. You already know them: Injuries are part of the game/no excuse. . . it's the next man up. . . Sam Superstar was important but Benny Backup did a good job. . . everybody has injuries.
Every team does have injuries but some have more than others, and some have more injuries to their important players. Tech has had both.
It's probably no coincidence that the week after Johnson's "nobody cares" retort, the team's public relations staff included this nugget in its notes prior to the Clemson game: "The injury bug has hit hard, especially on offense. Tech has lost 20 games to injury of offensive starters or projected starters, and a total of 29 games to offensive players on the depth (chart)."
That would be hard for any team to overcome and it's an especially heavy burden for the Jackets. They don't recruit at a level that allows them to replace experienced players with touted prospects. They run an offensive system in which repetition is important, and this year they have three new starters in the offensive backfield with lots of freshmen backups.
Johnson is right that nobody wants to hear about injuries. He and his players can’t talk about them, so I will do my part and say that Tech’s struggles this season aren't only about injuries but a fair accounting must prominently include bad injury luck as a major factor.
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