Article states Judon will be out indefinitely (not necessarily the whole season, but no timetable to return).
lol the blowout loss wasn’t bad enough. Had to lose our two best defenders for meaningful time, too.
Judon is basically for sure done for the year. Edge depth is still pretty solid, but he’s a big loss.
Gonzalez might not be done for the year, but a torn labrum isn’t minor. He was singlehandedly masking the fact that our CB2, CB3, and CB4 were out, taking on high leverage assignments routinely (he also got help at times, but they weren’t afraid not to give it to him) and not letting us be punished for it. The play after he got hurt, Lamb got vertical for an easy touchdown, and it didn’t get better from there. They just don’t have bodies left with so many guys out, and it’s really hard to mitigate that.
This defense can still be really good if other guys get back on the field (primarily corner), but it’s a lot harder without them.
JC Jackson for basically free is a good addition, though. He looked bad in LA after the lower body injuries, but it’s not his fault they thought it was a good idea to play him on Tyreek Hill when that was never his ideal matchup type, either. He’s an upgrade(quite possibility on pure athleticism too) from the other options we have outside, and just as importantly, he has a very strong background in what his responsibilities are in our different coverage looks. A history of lower body injuries can end a career, but it can also just take time to get the explosiveness back. If he does get it back in the offseason, you have a very good corner who understands our system on a reasonable contract; if he doesn’t you can release him at no cost.
Torn labrum is a removed of an injury. I tore mine and went from being able to do 20+ pullups to not being able to raise my arm over my head, couldn’t do a bench press without my shoulder locking in place at the bottom of a rep, and constant pain for 6.5 years before I could get surgery (thanks military healthcare, that PT really fixed everything, definitely didn’t need the surgery that the MRI said I needed a week after the injury). Even after the surgery, I have reduced range of motion, albeit less so than when it was still torn, but no pain anymore. 6-12 month recovery for a normal person, I’m sure it’s shorter for an NFL player with access to daily care.
It looks like a lot of the reporting is that he isn’t expected to come back, and given his age and where the team is, even if they end up a fringe playoff contender it would probably make sense not to try to rush him back. It’s disappointing, though (ignoring my bet on him winning DROY that was looking real good before the injury). He was already at least right on the cusp of being a game changing defender, and it’s really fun to watch those guys emerge. I’m still not entirely sure what teams were looking at for him to get to us twice.
