Montario Hardesty injured his knee, Byron Leftwich tore his MCL, LenDale White injured his ankle, and Jake Long walked off the field with a limp. All these injuries occurred last night in meaningless final preseason games for their respective teams. The Browns lost their promising rookie back, the Steelers lost their early season replacement for Roethlisberger, the Broncos added one more injured running back to their long list, and the Dolphins got a scare from one of their top players.

Some might ask the question, what were these players doing in these games? We've heard so much about how meaningless these games are - so much in fact that Commissioner Goodell has all-but admitted it by pushing for an 18-game season and a reduction in preseason games. So why were they playing? That's the question that's always asked whenever a player gets injured in a preseason game but it's an idiotic question.

Why were they playing? Because that's what they get paid to do. That's their job. There's this irrational thinking that when a player gets injured in a preseason game that they shouldn't have been playing. Fans blame the coaches for their careless decision to keep them in the game. It's a violent sport and injuries are an inevitability. Coaches can cut down on their starters' playing time but injuries will happen in the preseason just as they happen in the regular season. If you really wanted star players to avoid injury you'd excuse them from all practices. Actually, how about excusing them from all games too? Let's stop blaming the preseason for injuries as if somehow those games are more dangerous.