Ex-Cowboys star Troy Aikman talks reason for spate of early season injuries

Former Dallas Cowboys star Troy Aikman offered his own theory on why there has been a rash of early-season injuries in the NFL in recent years.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer said he believes NFL rules aimed at helping players avoid injuries could be the cause.

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Troy Aikman arrives on the red carpet for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on August 5, 2023. (Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports)

On Friday’s “Rodeo Time Podcast,” Aikman fondly recalled doing two practices a day in Wichita Falls, Texas, where the Cowboys held summer training camp. He suggested that while players aren’t as “taxed” as they were in the 1980s and 1990s during camps, they may not be as prepared for the toll their bodies take at the start of the season.

“I think they only wear pads one day a week or once a day, and they do a tour, and then, I don’t know how it all reads, but it’s pretty friendly and player-friendly,” Aikman said. “And a lot of it is, whenever they negotiate the CBA, the owners tend to always win financially. And then the players say, ‘Well, okay, then we’re not going to practice as long, or we’re not going to practice as often.’ So they tend to get concessions when it comes to the amount of time they actually spend in the facilities.

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Troy Aikman before the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium on December 4, 2023. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA Today Sports)

“I think the only ones that don’t have a voice in these negotiations are the coaches. They kind of have to wait for the dust to settle and say, ‘All right, how often do we get these?’ But that’s partly because we also see a lot of why I think we see so many injuries, especially early in the year. There’s a lot of soft tissue injuries, a lot of muscle pulls and things of that nature with players, they’re just not able to train like we used to, they’re not able to make their body numb as easily. Not that they don’t train hard and all that, but it’s different training on your own versus being on the soccer field practicing soccer moves. »

Aikman made it clear that he supported the changes in the name of player safety, but he was concerned that they could do more harm than good for some.

Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, JJ McCarthy of the Minnesota Vikings, Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers and Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens were among the quarterbacks to miss time early last season.

Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens warms up before a preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on August 16, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

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Player safety is expected to be put back in the spotlight as the NFL reportedly considers a Thanksgiving Eve game with the possibility of expanding to an 18-game schedule in the future.

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