A look at injury plagued Eben Britton

Mandatory Credit: Fernando Medina-US PRESSWIRE

Managing injuries in the NFL is vital for any team to win games through out the season. Last season, it was defensive end Aaron Kampman who was given a pitch count to how many snaps he could play to keep from re-injuring himself and performing at a productive level. This season, the Jags should be monitoring right tackle Eben Britton, who has dealt with a series of back injuries in seasons past.

In Tania Ganguli’s article titled, “Jaguars RT Eben Britton injured his back doing squats”, Eben shed light on injuring himself while doing power squats of 425 pounds. Having a herniated disk can lead to a lot of discomfort and pain (I myself sustained the injury while playing football for my high school team, I assure you it’s no picnic). Think of the disk as a soft cushion in the spine that look like a donut. To get a perspective, the staff of Mayoclinic.com defines the injury as the soft jelly interior pushing out through a crack of the tougher exterior.

I have two herniated disks in the lumbar region of my spine, disks numbered four and five, or L4 and L5. I did not receive surgery as treatment as Eben did , rather I received physical therapy, which has reduced the frequency of pain significantly. Yet the pain flairs up if I work myself too hard or if I am overly stressed.

Britton also had more injuries including a torn labrum and a back infection that caused him to bounce around the offensive line to guard. Eben was kept out of games like the Monday Night Football game against the Ravens because of the injury causing severe pain , which ultimately landed him on injury reserve.

This season, Britton is looking to return to the field at right tackle to prove his worth and words right. In 2009 Eben was passed up from the first round and fell to the second to the Jags with the 39th overall pick. Britton can only improve the line as RT Guy Whimper was not a very capable backup last season, allowing 14 of 44 total sacks. Britton has been missed and this will be a great season to look forward to with his return.

– Antonio Furgiuele