Packer Central

Bolden’s ‘Scary’ Injury Puts Risk Into Focus

“There’s a risk every time you go on the field,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after the game against the Patriots. “Unfortunately, it’s part of the game.”

Bill Huber

Bolden’s ‘Scary’ Injury Puts Risk Into Focus
Bolden’s ‘Scary’ Injury Puts Risk Into Focus /
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Life goes in the NFL, even after potentially life-altering injuries.

Saturday night’s preseason game between the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots was suspended with 10:29 remaining in the fourth quarter after Patriots cornerback Isaiah Bolden was carted off the field following a head injury.

“We’re going to get together tomorrow,” a shaken Matt LaFleur said. “We’ll have a team meeting, we’ll talk about it.”

What will be talked about is obvious. Every time a football player puts on his helmet and cleats, what happened to Bolden is possible.

“There’s a risk every time you go on the field,” LaFleur continued. “It’s an unfortunate part of our game that you never want to see. When it happens, it can be pretty scary. You never want to think about that going into a game, because usually when you’re thinking about getting hurt, something bad could happen. You want to go out there, play fast, play free. But, unfortunately, it’s part of the game.”

On what wound up being the final play of the game, Sean Clifford and Malik Heath combined to convert a third-and-7. Heath caught the ball about 6 yards downfield and fought for the first down against Bolden. Linebacker Calvin Munson arrived on the scene to help take down Heath but also hit Bolden in the head.

“This is a physical game played by a lot of people who give it their all,” Clifford said. “When that happens, it’s just tough. It’s part of the game and it’s sad that it happened today. Really praying for him.”

Bolden played at Jackson State. Heath is from Jackson, Miss. They did their predraft training at the same facility.

“I know him, so I didn’t want to finish,” Heath said. “I felt bad, too. It was a good thing we didn’t finish it. It was scary, too. That could’ve happened to me on the hit.”

According to the Patriots, Bolden had “feeling in all his extremities.” Bolden stayed in a Green Bay hospital overnight for further observation but was released on Sunday morning. The Patriots were slated to fly home rather than to Tennessee for joint practices against the Titans.

“It’s a reminder of the fragility of life,” Patriots 16th-year special teams ace Matthew Slater said. “It’s not something we spend a lot of time thinking about, but the reality is all of us will have to wrestle with that at some point in time, every person who’s ever walked the face of this earth.

“I think it’s unfortunate that it happens in this context and this setting because this is meant to be a joyful, celebratory experience. We’re playing a game. We’re doing what we love. We’re entertaining people. People are getting enjoyment out of our game. But it’s a reminder that things can turn on a dime. It’s something you have to put out of your head as a player because you can’t go out there with fear and hesitation, but the reality is things happen in life and certainly things happen in football all the time.”

Last year’s incident involving Bills safety Damar Hamlin was at the forefront of many players’ thoughts.

“Of course that’s in the back of all of our minds when something like that happens,” Patriots defensive back Jalen Mills said. “His eyes were open and it looked like he was moving. Just to have that compassion, it’s a good sign that the league is taking that very serious.”

While Bolden was down and being examined by trainers, Patriots players knelt around him. LaFleur and Patriots coach Bill Belichick started talking about how to proceed. With Bolden driven to the locker room, both coaches walked to the Patriots’ huddle. Shortly thereafter, it was announced the game had been suspended.

“I’ve never been a part of a situation like that,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said. “It’s a scary situation. You don’t know what’s going on, if he’s going to be OK or not. We’ve heard that he’s in stable condition and he’s going to the hospital now. So, just a scary situation. Everyone’s not knowing what’s going on.

“Thoughts and prayers are with him. Just the way they kind of ended the game, I think it was the right decision. You never want to see that happen, going back to last year with the Damar Hamlin incident. It’s just a scary incident that you don’t want to see happen and everyone’s just scared after that.”

The Packers won’t have long to move on. It’s the cold reality of the NFL. They’ll practice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week before wrapping up the preseason against Seattle on Saturday.

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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