John Harbaugh upset as Baltimore Ravens lose Benjamin Watson to injury
Sunday 28 August 2016 16:25, UK
Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh wants changes to the NFL's pre-season after potentially losing two key players to injury on Saturday night.
Harbaugh was furious after tight end Benjamin Watson, one of the Ravens' biggest signings in free agency this off-season, suffered a torn achilles in the 30-9 win over Detroit that could see him miss the entire season.
He also has concerns over rookie running back Kenneth Dixon, who sprained his left knee and will undergo an MRI scan to find out the severity of the injury.
Although Harbaugh sees some value in teams playing in pre-season, he feels four games might be too many given the amount of injuries already being seen around the league.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo suffered a broken bone in his back against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday and the Chicago Bears lost quarterback Connor Shaw to a broken leg on Saturday.
"It's not the '70s anymore," Harbaugh said. "These guys playing in these games - it's tough - and they're not meaningful games.
"They are important to get better, and they improve us. But we football coaches can find ways to get our guys ready and get our players evaluated without the kind of risk that a game necessarily entails.
"I'm really hopeful that the union and the league can get together and do something that's good for everybody - especially what's good for the players and for the fans.
"If you go more games, fewer preseason games and bigger rosters, that's good for everybody. To me, that's something that they can put their heads together and work out. It would be a positive.
"If I had my choice, I'd go none. That might be an extreme point, but we could run scrimmages, or we could run practices against other teams and figure it out. We'd all be in the same boat. That's for people higher up than me to decide."
