Tyrod Taylor was a late scratch from Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs. It wasn’t clear exactly what happened, outside of the fact that he needed to go to the hospital for a chest problem, and while rookie Justin Herbert performed admirably after getting thrust into the starting spot on short notice, there was plenty of concern about what happened that led to Taylor before the game.
Thanks to Adam Schefter of ESPN, we now know: Taylor suffered a punctured lung. Even worse, this happened on accident as a result of the team’s doctor trying to give him a pain-killing injection.
The Chargers’ team doctor accidentally punctured his own quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s lung just before kickoff Sunday while trying to administer a pain-killing injection to the quarterback’s cracked ribs, league and team sources told ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 23, 2020
Obviously this is horrifying, and fortunately, Taylor seems to be doing better, although he had been listed as week-to-week and doesn’t look like he will line up under center this week.
Sources: #Chargers rookie QB Justin Herbert is expected to start on Sunday vs the #Panthers, his second straight start in place of Tyrod Taylor (chest). Herbert impressed last week on short notice.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 23, 2020
Doctors have advised Tyrod Taylor not to play "indefinitely” due to his punctured lung. The Chargers were hoping Taylor would be able to start Sunday, but doctors are against it. https://t.co/FHm7aJXC8o
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 23, 2020
As is oftentimes the case when news from out of left field hits Twitter, the primary reaction was to get off a number of jokes. This time, it was people saying that the Chargers’ doctor was Dr. Nick Riviera, the lovable but extremely bad doctor from The Simpsons.
https://t.co/5GgGCZ7Er5 pic.twitter.com/rDzDnTXqPt
— Jeff Perri (@JeffPerri) September 23, 2020
https://twitter.com/CamBNewton/status/1308800152291938305
— K (@KF13_NJ) September 23, 2020
— Ph0nics (@Ph0nics) September 23, 2020
— Mark C. Healey (@MarkCHealey) September 23, 2020
https://twitter.com/RutherfordCrazy/status/1308793705885765634
Chargers doctor walking in on Sunday pic.twitter.com/EpfZUXvXUA
— 60% percent of the time, it works every time (@PackCatsYanks88) September 23, 2020
— fantasyfootballwolf (@FFW0LF) September 23, 2020
In a less meme-driven analysis of the injury, one doctor explained that this sort of injection is really tricky to pull off.
Doing these nerve blocks without ultrasound is very risky for this exact reason. This is just more evidence for the importance of sports medicine doctors having ultrasound skills for both diagnostic purposes and to help guide these high risk procedures. https://t.co/Bs4LcDfJw3
— Brian Sutterer MD (@BrianSuttererMD) September 23, 2020
Even with ultrasound guidance it's a risk with the procedure, in the event they did in fact use ultrasound guidance.
— Brian Sutterer MD (@BrianSuttererMD) September 23, 2020
I guarantee that Chargers team doc knew the nerve block injection was high risk and communicated that risk with the team and Taylor. That isn't something you casually do for all level of athletes. It's one of the unique parts of elite level sports medicine care.
— Brian Sutterer MD (@BrianSuttererMD) September 23, 2020
In Taylor’s absence, Herbert, the No. 6 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, completed 22 of his 33 pass attempts for 333 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also punched one in the the ground. It wasn’t quite enough, though, as the Chiefs erased a fourth quarter deficit to win in overtime, 23-20.
