Hey everyone, it’s Raj from 3CB Performance.
Chiefs wideout Tyreek Hill suffered an upper chest injury during the team’s week 1 win
vs the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In this video, I’ll explain the injury specifics and when to expect Tyreek back on the field.
The injury occurred late in the first quarter when Tyreek was tackled by Jags corner Jalen
Ramsey with Hill’s upper chest/shoulder taking the brunt of the impact.
Hill was taken out of the game and eventually diagnosed with a posterior dislocation of
his sternoclavicular joint (SCJ).
The SCJ is the meeting point between your sternum - the breastbone -
and clavicle, the collarbone.
In this case, the force of the tackle and landing on the chest pushed the sternoclavicular
joint posteriorly - meaning backwards towards Tyreek’s shoulder blades - and overstressed
the posterior capsule ligament which is responsible for anterior-posterior stability, resulting
in a dislocation.
This posterior dislocation of the SCJ is relatively rare and because it’s near sensitive anatomy
can cause symptoms such as labored breathing - dyspnea - and/or difficulty swallowing,
along with vascular and neurological compromise (meaning damage to arteries, veins, or nerves).
However, in these cases, surgery is required immediately and we know Tyreek’s injury
wasn’t operated on; rather the joint was reset back into place, known as a closed reduction,
most likely with Tyreek under sedation because it can be frikkin painful.
The Chiefs didn’t place Hill on the IR which
is a very good sign and we’ve heard varying timelines on the injury, from “at least
a couple weeks” to “four to six weeks” to Chiefs trainer Rick Burholder calling it
a “truly week to week” injury and commenting that Hill will be undergoing further testing
in a couple weeks.
The injury does sound like a mild grade 1 dislocation but the timeline variance speaks
directly to the fluid nature of the injury.
At minimum, it sounds like Hill will be missing two weeks and then the Chiefs will play it
by ear depending on how the further imaging looks and how Tyreek is responding to the rehab.
In the past, he has shown a penchant for returning from injury quickly and being able to play
through discomfort which bodes well for a quicker return to play but, that being said,
considering the physicality of the NFL and inherent risk that comes from getting tackled
or hit at high speed as a wideout, any chest injury cannot be taken lightly.
The good news is that with appropriate rehab and ongoing strength and conditioning, Tyreek
shouldn’t be much worse for wear when he does get back.
However, there’s always risk for re-injury or aggravation considering the high impact
nature of the NFL and Hill’s position.
A potential silver lining here is that the reduced load may actually help Tyreek avoid
the nagging lower body groin and foot injuries that creeped up on him during the second half
of last season.
In the meantime, potentially look for rookie speedster Mecole Hardman to take on
more responsibility and fill in for Tyreek who’s critical for creating space, mismatches, and defensive
confusion in KC’s passing attack.
That’s a wrap for this video.
Thanks for watching.
My goal is to provide you with in-depth, evidence based, narrative free analysis and you can
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