Lorenzo Neal spoke on 95.7 The Game Tuesday afternoon. Here’s what he said about Justin Smith.
Q: Do you think Justin Smith will play next Saturday, and do you think he’ll be anywhere near 100 percent?
LORENZO NEAL: Those are two phenomenal questions. One, I know he can play. But the second question is the toughest. Guys are going to be hitting it, chopping it. He’s going to be sore. And I know what he can do. They can put him on Toradol. They’ll probably put him on a steroid package, a seven-day steroid package. I’ve done it many times, it tries to take the inflammation out of that area. They’ve probably got him on some Celebrex, some Biox. Got to be icing and stemming every day. Getting the inflammation out is imperative. You’ll see him out there in a brace. And then what you do for the triceps, you’ve got to strengthen your shoulders, strengthen your biceps – do movements that aren’t going to affect your triceps. The triceps is mostly when you extend. Justin likes to punch and lockout, so he’s going to play and be limited. He’ll have one arm to punch with, I think the other arm will be more to grab and wrap and tackle. He can still play, but it will be hard for him to punch and hit and read – he’s one of the best defensive lineman at that. I think they are going to lose something by not having a 100 percent Justin Smith.
Q: So you think he’ll be able to play?
LORENZO NEAL: Yeah, because the day of the game, guys take a thing called Toradol. Toradol, they inject in your butt. It’s a pain killer, it numbs the pain. You can play through it. Toradol, it’s candy. It was tea for me. I was taking Toradol like I was drinking coffee. You’re tight, you’re sore, and it relieves the pain for those three hours. We’ll see how Justin responds to it. He’s a tough guy. You know if this guy can go, he’s going to go. Justin’s in his 13th year. Justin understands he’s got two or three years left, if that. So he understands what this opportunity means for the 49ers. This is the 49ers’ year.
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“Those are two phenomenal questions.”
It’s what I said before, minus the pain killer talk. JS does a lot of grabbing and pushing. He’ll use his shoulders and legs. Put a brace and pad his elbow. He’ll be fine. He has strong hands to grab and tackle. He’s stout enough to hold his position. I look for a big game out of AS because JS will make his job easier.
Yes, and we are forgetting all of the internal organ damages caused by the Toradol. The NFL wants players to sign releases absolving corporate NFL of any workman’s comp claims specifically caused by the usage of Toradol.
Good point.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/sports/football/nfl-sued-by-ex-players-over-painkiller-toradol.html?_r=0
Urlacker was asked if he would have taken Toradol after he knew that it caused your intestine to bleed as well as other problems. I cant find the link but he answered something to the effect of ” without it i wouldn’t have been able to compete in half the games i played in because of one ailment or another so its ultimately worth it” so just like with concussions it seems like players are willing to pay the price
Don’t know that I would let him play in this round. Think I’d try to get the first playoff win without him, then in the Championship game play him. That way he gets 2 weeks between games to recover.
+1
Tomorrow is never promissed. maybe we need his run defense more.
Against the Packers?
He’s already had 3 weeks off.
SEA
AZ
BYE
and half of the NE game.
It’s an issue that not going to get better without surgery. Sitting another week will not help anymore than his 4 weeks he’s already been sitting. Win 2 games and get 2 weeks off again. The rest of his body will be sore because hell be using other parts more to get around the arm. No way you sit him unless he says.
I agree. I expect him to play. I’ve had elbow/tricep problems before. The hardest thing is to extend your arm to get separation. This will affect the pass rush when he tried to shed a blocker or bull rush. That being said, he still gets to grab, pull , rip, swim and when needed, punch the gut and dip the shoulder where the bad arm is and use leverage.
I want the Niners to have him wrap both elbows up so the offense doesn’t know which elbow hurts. the Reggie white club move shoulder be useful not to mention the 360 degree spin move. It’s going to come down to withstanding the shooting pains that are fire like.
Until it tears beyond duct tape repairs and shots. You’ve got to conserve him as much as possible.
I’m very skeptical that he even plays, and if he does, I don’t think he will be very effective, and he’ll see a limited snap count.
I really, really hope I’m wrong, because he is our best player, no question. Our defense has been far less than championship calibre since he went out.
Agree 100%. It’s time for Fangio, the other “Pro-Bowlers” & especially RJF to step the eff up.
The Packers have NO running game or O-line.
AR moves around the pocket and gets rid of the ball very quickly.
Even with that, the Vikes beat them because they were able to control the clock. To me, they’re very beatable with press coverage and moderate pressure on the QB.
I also agree with Razoreater. I’d sit JS out until Championship game. The only problem with that is there’s NO guarantee they’ll make it that far. I would sit JS for a quarter or an entire half and (depending how we’re doing) re-evaluate.
That’ll never happen though. Too much Cowboy bravado.