TAMPA — Born out of a gambling scandal almost 70 years ago, the NFL injury report has evolved into a weekly information packet full of half-truths, manipulation and outright deception.
For every organization that makes an honest attempt to be accurate, other teams habitually fudge injuries in an effort to gain a competitive advantage.
“With all due respect, I know a lot of people live and die on the injury report, but I don’t really care what’s on the injury report,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “Look, I don’t know how these guys are going to be, either.