Tag: medical staff

Saints’ head orthopedic surgeon headed to different NFL team

WDSU New Orleans reports that the Saints’ head team orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Karim Meijer, is leaving to join Sean Payton on the Denver Broncos:

The New Orleans Saints are moving into a new era this offseason with a multitude of changes that could bring both positives and negatives.

But one of the things happening off of the field is that Saints orthopedic surgeon Dr. Karim Meijer, who is regarded as of the top figures in his profession, is leaving the Saints.

And he is headed to the Denver Broncos, per a report from Sharif Ishaq of WDSU. There, he will rejoin the staff of former Saints head coach Sean Payton, who has attracted other New Orleans staffers in his tenure there. Longtime Saints athletic trainer Beau Lowery is also on staff in Denver.

Meijer, a native of Houston, was a college football defensive back for the Texas Longhorns before moving into the medical profession. He saw the field limitedly for the 2004 and 2005 seasons, putting together 16 total tackles, six of which were solo.

He has been based in Elmwood, La. and is a part of the Oschner Health Network, specializing in elbow, knee and shoulder issues, in addition to regenerative medicine. The Saints have received a lot of criticism for their handling of injuries and partnership with Oschner in recent years, but this change may not make things better.

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Doctors recommended Branden Jackson not play this season to be safe

To prevent further injury to his neck, the Seahawks’ doctors recommended defensive end Branden Jackson sit out the season.

The Seattle Seahawks placed defensive end Branden Jackson on injured reserve Sunday after he gave the team quite the scare during the first mock game of the year at CenturyLink Field.

Jackson collided with a teammate during the scrimmage and was knocked unconscious for a brief time before being carted off to an ambulance. Thankfully, Jackson was able to return to the team meetings the following day.

Coach Pete Carroll, at the time, was unsure of any long-term damage as a result of the injury, but the team has decided to play it safe this year.

“It’s a situation where (doctors) don’t recommend him playing this season,” Carroll told reporters Sunday afternoon. “He really came out of that episode OK, but the testing did show him that he had a physical trait that they want to protect, so everybody has been convinced that the best thing to do is for him not to play this year. I don’t know that that’s forever, but I do know for right now. He’s not injured right now, but he’s susceptible — it’s similar to situations a couple of our other guys have had in the past. We’re erring on the side of long-term health and taking care of our guys.”

Carroll compared Jackson’s situation to that of Kam Chancellor and Cliff Avril, both of whom retired because of neck injuries. Carroll is hopeful that Jackson could return in the future.

“He is a great team guy, we love him on our team, and he’s got such spirit,” Carroll said. “He’s got great versatility too in his play, but he’s just been such a great guy in this locker room. We’re going to miss him. I asked him to stay around as long as he wants to be with us all along, and I hope he’ll be able to do that.”

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Report: NFL teams are putting coronavirus clauses in contracts

In light of the recent COVID-19 outbreak across the country, NFL teams are now putting coronavirus-related claused in their player contracts.

The National Football League opted to go ahead with the start of the 2020  new league year and free agency despite the outbreak of COVID-19 that is circling the globe.

In order to proceed with caution and keep players, staff and others safe in the process, the league did make a number of adjustments, including closing team facilities, effectively halting the physicals clubs require of players before contracts can become official.

The NFL has now taken things a step further related to reaching new deals.

“NFL teams are placing coronavirus-related provisions in their contracts stating that a failed physical will result in forfeited signing bonus money, league sources told ESPN,” reports Jeremy Fowler.

Fowler states there is uncertainty as to just how many teams are utilizing these virus-related provisions.

Due to the increased demand for medical staff around the country, the logistics of finding available doctors to perform player physicals may delay the process for weeks and months.

As of now, players are continuing to sign their new deals – with or without the provision – and keeping their fingers crossed for the best.

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