TABLE 1.
ACL Injuries in the NFL, 2015–2019a
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 5-y Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACL injuries | 68 | 65 | 61 | 67 | 53 | 62.8 |
| Side of injury | ||||||
| Right | 35 (51) | 26 (40) | 34 (56) | 36 (54) | 25 (47) | 31.2 (50) |
| Left | 33 (49) | 39 (60) | 27 (44) | 31 (46) | 28 (53) | 31.4 (50) |
| Severity | ||||||
| Partial | 6 (9) | 9 (14) | 3 (5) | 5 (7) | 8 (15) | 6.2 |
| Complete | 62 (91) | 56 (86) | 58 (95) | 62 (93) | 45 (85) | 56.6 |
| Tears treated with ACL reconstruction | ||||||
| Partialb | 3 (50) | 5 (56) | 2 (67) | 3 (60) | 6 (75) | 3.8 |
| Complete | 62 (100) | 56 (100) | 58 (100) | 62 (100) | 45 (100) | 56.6 |
| Position at time of injury | ||||||
| Offensive line | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8.2 |
| Running back | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4.2 |
| Tight end | 5 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Quarterback | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Wide receiver | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5.8 |
| Defensive secondary | 13 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 9 |
| Defensive line | 9 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 7.8 |
| Linebacker | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 6.4 |
| Special teams | 13 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 15 |
| Unknown/missing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.4 |
| No. of years in NFL | ||||||
| 0 (rookie) | 12 | 17 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 15 |
| 1 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 14.8 |
| 2 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 8 | 9.4 |
| 3 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 8 |
| 4 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4.6 |
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2.4 |
| 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| ≥7 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 5.6 |
| Player demographics | ||||||
| Age, y | 26.1 ± 2.8 | 25.6 ± 2.4 | 25.6 ± 3.2 | 25.2 ± 2.5 | 25.1 ± 2.1 | 25.5 ± 2.6 |
| Mass, lbc | 241.5 ± 40.8 | 243.0 ± 41.0 | 234.8 ± 42.4 | 241.4 ± 38.8 | 245.7 ± 37.4 | 241.3 ± 40.1 |
| Height, inc | 73.9 ± 2.9 | 74.1 ± 2.3 | 73.3 ± 2.6 | 73.7 ± 2.3 | 74.4 ± 2.2 | 73.9 ± 2.5 |
| Body mass index | 30.9 ± 3.8 | 31.0 ± 4.2 | 30.5 ± 4.0 | 31.1 ± 3.9 | 31.1 ± 3.8 | 30.9 ± 3.9 |
| Season | ||||||
| Off-season | 8 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 6.6 |
| Preseason | 30 | 20 | 31 | 28 | 17 | 25.2 |
| Regular season | 30 | 36 | 23 | 29 | 32 | 30 |
| Postseason | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Injury setting | ||||||
| Practice | 24 (35) | 24 (37) | 22 (36) | 24 (36) | 17 (32) | 22.2 |
| Game | 41 (60) | 41 (63) | 39 (64) | 42 (63) | 36 (68) | 39.8 |
| Conditioning | 3 (4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 0.8 |
a
Values are presented as No. (%) or mean 6 SD. ACL, anterior cruciate ligament; NFL, National Football League.
b
Treatment for partial ACL tears cannot capture surgical treatment that has not yet occurred. It is possible that the number of ACL reconstructions for partial tears is underreported by the clubs.
c
Weight and height reflect values recorded at the time when the player joined the club where he was injured.