It’s Time to Give Jahvid Best an Extended Rest

The “turf toe” name doesn’t do justice to the severity of the injury. It sounds harmless enough, something on par with a stubbed toe perhaps. If only that was the case.

The amount of pain involved with a turf toe injury should not be underestimated. The Sports Injury Clinic website explains the injury like this:

"Turf toe can occur after a very vigorous upward bending of the big toe. It got it’s name due to the fact that it occurs frequently in people who play games on artificial surfaces. The shoe grips hard on the surface and sticks causing bodyweight to go forward and so bending the toe up. It is also common in martial arts. You are more at risk if you have increased range of motion in the ankle and / or wear soft flexible shoes.When the toe is bent upwards this causes damage to the ligaments under the toe which can become stretched. In addition the surfaces of the bones at the joint can become damaged. You should really have an X-ray to check that there is no fracture present."

Now multiply that by two and you get a better picture of what Jahvid Best is facing. Anyone that saw Jahvid Best’s bare feet during Sunday’s television broadcast can attest to the severity of the injury. Not a pretty sight. While a player might be able to try playing through the pain, the only way the injury will heal is with rest. The situation becomes even tougher when it is both feet that are affected. Neither foot is suitable for planting, cutting or bursting forward. All the qualities that made Jahvid Best a first round draft pick are essentially rendered useless.

Through the first two games of the season Best had accumulated 268 total yards and five touchdowns. Best was injured during the week three game in Minnesota and in the eight game stretch that started with that Vikings game he has put up a total of 489 yards and zero touchdowns. He has failed to hit the 50-yard mark rushing or receiving since week five.

Jahvid Best has been routinely missing practice time to cope with the injury. A missed week of practice isn’t enough to completely heal the injuries but it is the only hope for going into the game as fresh as possible. Best and the Lions can’t be faulted for trying to make it work but it is time to pull the plug on that experiment, it isn’t working.

The Lions have a short week coming up due to their annual Thanksgiving game and there is no reason to suggest that Best will see the kind of improvement necessary to avoid the kind of performances that have become commonplace. It is time for the Lions to end the charade and declare Best out for the Patriots game. They aren’t doing anyone but the opposition any favors by running Best out there. The alternatives may not be exciting but a healthy body has a better chance to produce for the Lions right now.

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