Zach's Finger Slice

[TecnoGenius]

I've studied the GC Zach finger slice play quite a bit.  I'm nearly positive he slices it on the pass-rusher's hand/fingernails/glove.  In other words, it did not strike a helmet like Zach suspected in the post-game.

This is very odd.  It's not easy to slice a knuckle wide open like that.  It actually seems impossible.

My hunch is the DL's fingernails got in there like claws on a cat during Zach's follow-through.  If you make a throwing motion, use your left hand to try to get a nail into that spot.  It seems pretty easy to get a nail into that knuckle, if a bit pathological and unlucky.  The DL would have to be curling his knuckles to try to claw at him.

My question is, are D players permitted to sharpen or enhance their nails in any way?  I'm trying to put buckets of pressure from my normal nails into my knuckle joint and I really don't see how you can make such a big slice... with normal nails.  And it's not like Zach was still in a fast motion: where the hands seem to touch is near the end/slowdown part of his motion.

As a D player (especially DL), what's to stop you from trying to make your nails as sharp as possible, for use in clawing at players?  You can sharpen them laterally as well as to a point.  If you're lucky enough to get a hand on a QB, slicing him up (anywhere!) certainly can't hurt your chances of winning.

I'm not saying any TOR D player did this, as someone could just have long, dirty, strong/thick nails.  And Zach could just have had terrible luck.  That said, I'm not sure I've seen anything like this before.  Helmet-finger damage, sure... but hand-hand slicing?  Nope.

No one can argue that the Zach finger injury stole any chance we had of winning the game, as as such it would be nice to definitively know why it occurred and see if we can protect against it in the future.

[bluengold204]

I haven't watched the replay but I think defensive linemen are required to wear gloves so I doubt it was a fingernail...

[VictorRomano]

Speaking as someone who played both OG and DT at the Junior level (19-22), no one I ever played with sharpened their fingernails.  Too much chance to have a fingernail get caight on the opponent uniform and get torn off.  most guys I played with kept their nails extremely short as a result.

[Blueforlife]

Likely something we will never see again, really bad timing.  Hopefully it heals 100%.

[dd]

The big boys in the trenches are hard at it knocking the crap out of each other and most, if not all, wear gloves to protect their hands from helmet and facemask contact and getting caught up in jerseys//broken. 

This far fetched whole notion that someone would forgo protecting their hands from damage in combat for sharpening up their fingernails is insane.

Our fingernails aren't strong enough to endure the trauma of such impact and would most likely result in injury to the D lineman.

[theaardvark]

The finger slice cost us the game.  Period.

How the staff reacted to it was probably the worst thing they could have done.  Hindsight, I know...

[TecnoGenius]

This far fetched whole notion that someone would forgo protecting their hands from damage in combat for sharpening up their fingernails is insane.

Our fingernails aren't strong enough to endure the trauma of such impact and would most likely result in injury to the D lineman.

Ya, one would think, eh?  But we still need an explanation for the deep cut.

I have looked at it some more, and the offending DL #97 Parish is wearing fingerless gloves.  And he has taped knuckles.  But skin is exposed on most of each finger.  I assume his nails are not taped, but I cannot tell for sure.  The slowmo replay after Zach walks to the tunnel is the best angle to see this stuff.

The other DL appear to be wearing full gloves.  But not #97.  So it could still be a fingernail that got Zach.

And if not a fingernail, what else could it be, unless he's spiking his gloves or something (which would seem even more preposterous).

I'm pretty sure in the slowmo with my comp PVR in frame step I can see the moment the 2 hands touch.  It's at a slightly different angle than I thought, but still pretty much as you'd expect.  Except for the suspected hand collision, Zach's hand is down inward towards his stomach by the time Parish comes through with his helmet, and thus the knuckle should have been protected.  The helmet never gets as low as Zach's resting throwing arm anyhow.

Bottom line, if someone wants to rebut the fingernail theory, they'll need to study this and suggest an alternative method of injury.

Might it be beneficial for Zach to loosely tape his knuckles in the future?  Or maybe someone makes a product that is protective yet not limiting?  If that knuckle had some tape, it likely does not get sliced.

P.S. #97 followed through on the hit, though held up his full weight, and the hit was marginally late after the ball was gone.  He's lucky he did not get flagged.

[TecnoGenius]

Interesting note: it was Bryant whiffing slightly on #97 that let him get to Zach.  Should have kept him fully away and this wouldn't have happened.

[ModAdmin]

Interesting note: it was Bryant whiffing slightly on #97 that let him get to Zach.  Should have kept him fully away and this wouldn't have happened.

No player is perfect on every play.  But Bryant is the cornerstone on our oline and our most impactful oline player going into next season.

[TecnoGenius]

No player is perfect on every play.  But Bryant is the cornerstone on our oline and our most impactful oline player going into next season.

For sure, Big Stan is allowed a mulligan or two.  But like the Nichols lemonation, the Big Stan whiffs are often costly.  Strange that, actually.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Might it be beneficial for Zach to loosely tape his knuckles in the future?  Or maybe someone makes a product that is protective yet not limiting? If that knuckle had some tape, it likely does not get sliced.

Someone already has, they're called "gloves", many QB's wear them for improved grip and to better protect their hands from injury.  If Zach was wearing a glove it may have ripped on the sharp object but it probably would have prevented the cut. We'll see if he's wearing gloves next season, can an old dog learn new tricks, or not?

[blue_gold_84]

The finger slice cost us the game.  Period.

Not sure about that. The offense was playing poorly even before that happened.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Not sure about that. The offense was playing poorly even before that happened.

Yah, but there's always the hope Zach can get it going. First half performance was not impressive and the second half was worse.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

...Sharpened finger nails? The off season has only just begun!

[ModAdmin]

...Sharpened finger nails? The off season has only just begun!

Imagine open toed cleats and sharpened toe nails!!!