Dallas Cowboy Jason Witten Had His Spleen Lacerated in Monday’s Game

I remember as a kid watching this TV piece about what it's like to play in the NFL. One player, a running back if memory serves, said it feels like getting in ten car crashes in one day. Another player mentioned that he often couldn't get out of bed on a Monday morning following a game. It was a real eye opener.

So now the news today is that Dallas Cowboy tight end Jason Witten suffered a lacerated spleen in Monday's preseason game after getting hit by Oakland's Rolando McClain. The small laceration is 'very serious' and was bleeding, but the spleen didn't rupture. Well, that's good because a quick check of WebMD reveals this horrifying little fact:

Ruptured spleen: The spleen is vulnerable to injury, and a ruptured spleen can cause serious life-threatening internal bleeding and is a life-threatening emergency. An injured spleen may rupture immediately after an injury, or in some cases, days or weeks after an injury.

That makes Witten being held out of the rest of the preseason a no-brainer, which the Cowboys are doing and they aren't even sure if he'll be ready for the season opener on September 5th. Probably not a real good idea to rush back from this one.