Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was projected to enter the 2022 NFL season as one of the top performers at his position until he reportedly suffered a grade III ACL tear this morning.
“You understand the risk-reward in the sport that we play,” said Taylor, who’s proven durable early in his career but is well-aware of the risks. “It’s a very violent game.”
Taylor has taken a proactive approach to the kinds of injuries that can derail a season or career — the soft tissue injuries to muscles, ligaments and tendons. He’s studied the physiological impact of his physical preparation.
And this year, he decided to put his money behind it as well, investing in a technology company called Strive, which is focused on quantifying muscle performance to evaluate the optimum workload, level of fatigue and other factors confronting modern-day NFL players.
“You have to really trust in your preparation,” Taylor said. “… Everything that you’ve done leading up to the season and, as well, during the season. Doing everything you can to mitigate as many factors as possible that will lead to those soft tissue injuries.”
Understanding muscular performance is critical for running backs like Taylor given their reliance on their legs for explosion, power, agility and acceleration. Lower extremity muscle strains represent the No. 1 injury burden in the NFL, hamstring strains lead the way.
These types of injuries are not new, but they have become so pervasive and costly, both in terms of personnel absence and dollars spent, the NFL formed a committee to study the problem, along with awarding a $4 million research grant to the University of Wisconsin — where Taylor attended college — to study hamstring injuries prospectively in football players.
The study aims to identify risk factors for hamstring injury and reinjury in order to better understand and implement strategies to mitigate that risk.
Players know lower extremity strains (injury to a muscle or tendon from the hip to the ankle) suffered in-season are particularly devastating. Hamstring strains result in lost time for approximately 75% of players, and the variability among them (from severity to location), combined with their often-nebulous symptoms (such as tightness/stiffness/pain), make them particularly difficult to effectively treat. Plus, there’s a 30% chance of recurrence after return to play.
Taylor has sought to figure out how he can avoid being another statistic. He met with Nikola Mrvaljevic, the CEO and co-founder of Strive. The company uses sensors integrated into compression clothing to capture muscular output during various activities and translate the data to graphic displays in real time.