Thursday Was Just a Horrible Night For Football Players’ Knees

Knees are cool. They’re the joints that connect humans’ upper and lower leg parts together and allow us to be the walking bipedal creatures that we are.

They’re also a b*tch to keep healthy and functioning properly when it comes to sports. And Thursday night provided plenty of knee-specific news from the realm of American football, both in the college and pro ranks.

First, the Thursday night NFL game between the Browns and Bills. Early in the first quarter, Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer scrambled for a first down when Bills linebacker Kiko Alonso hit him on his slide down. Hoyer’s legs awkwardly crumpled beneath him during the hit, leaving him strewn out near the Browns’ sideline. Backup Brandon Weeden entered as Hoyer left for the locker room. The Twitterverse is already mentioning that Hoyer might have torn ligaments in his knee because… Yeah. Just watch the hit above.

In the third quarter, Bills’ quarterback EJ Manuel picked up a knee injury when the Browns’ Tashuan Gipson knocked the rookie after a 14-yard run. Manuel also left the game, as the Bills inserted undrafted Jeff Tuel at quarterback. There has been no word yet as to the extent of Manuel’s injury, but he was able to walk off the field on his own. The Browns would eventually win the game 37-24. They now sit atop the AFC North standings at 3-2. That is not a joke.

Thursday’s Big 12 match-up between Texas and Iowa State was notable for a few last-minute controversial fumbles and Cyclones head coach Paul Rhoads’ post-game presser, but get a load of this cheap shot by Texas wide receiver Mike Davis’ on Iowa State’s Deon Broomfield. Texas scored a crucial touchdown on the play to help them “win” 31-30, but Davis was not ejected. Mull that over for a second when we’ve seen players ejected for more ambiguous hits this season.

Luckily, Broomfield was not injured on the play. We, unfortunately, cannot say the same of Hoyer and Manuel.

Pics, GIFs Via: Getty, SB Nation, Huffington Post, For The Win

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