Ex-NFL star Troy Aikman drops theory about cause of early season injuries

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Former Dallas Cowboys star Troy Aikman offered his own theory as to why there have been a spate of early-season injuries in the NFL over the last few years.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer said he believed the NFL’s rules to help players avoid injuries may actually be the cause of them.

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

On Friday's "Rodeo Time Podcast," Aikman fondly remembered doing two-a-day practices in Wichita Falls, Texas, where the Cowboys would hold training camp in the summer. 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 beginning of the season.

"I think they only wear pads one day a week or one time a day, and they have a walk-through, and then after, I don’t know how it all reads, but it’s pretty player friendly and favorable," Aikman said. "And a lot of it, whenever they negotiate the CBA, the owners tend to always win on the financial side of things. And then the players say, ‘Well, all right, then we’re not gonna practice as long, or we’re not gonna practice as often.’ So, then they tend to get concessions when it comes to how much time they’re actually at facilities.

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

"I think the only ones who don’t have a