NFL Injury Rates During the 2020 COVID-19 Season

Publicly released NFL weekly injury reports from the 2018–2020 seasons were analyzed to evaluate the impact of the pandemic-altered schedule. The study by Brooks N. Platt found no significant change in the overall injury rate per 1000 athlete exposures in 2020 compared to pre-COVID-19 seasons. Injuries were categorized by body region and player position, with a significant increase noted only in illness-related listings for the 2020 season.

Use Cases

• Compare pre- and post-COVID-19 injury incidence rates based on calculated incidents per 1000 athlete exposures.
• Analyze the distribution of injuries by player position as described in the study.
• Investigate changes in illness-related player absences based on the reported significant increase in 2020.
• Model injury risk factors using categorized injury data for upper extremity, lower extremity, spine/core, and head.

Strengths

• Data covers three consecutive NFL seasons (2018–2020), allowing for a longitudinal comparison.
• Injury rates are calculated per 1000 athlete exposures, a standard metric in sports epidemiology.
• Analysis includes statistical comparisons using incidence rate ratios (IRR) and confidence intervals.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

National Football League (NFL) weekly injury reports.

Collection Method

Publicly released reports were queried to identify players listed as out or on injured reserve.

Time Range

2018–2020 NFL seasons.

Geography

United States (National Football League).