NFL Funds 4-Year, $4M Study to Help Prevent, Treat Hamstring Injuries

The NFL's Scientific Advisory Board will fund a four-year, $4 million study to help investigate the prevention and treatment of hamstring injuries, per Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press.

"When you look at the burden of injury overall, lower-extremity injuries and strains are the No. 1 time-loss injury in the NFL," NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills said. "It’s a huge problem that keeps our players off the field, so it’s become a priority of ours."

Per Maaddi, hamstring injuries are the most common injury in the NFL, with 75 percent of them resulting in missed action.

Star receiver Julio Jones was a perfect example last season, suffering a hamstring strain early in the season that eventually cost him seven games during the regular season. He missed time in four different stints because of the same injury.

The latest research will hope to get a better understanding of "who gets hurt, how do they get hurt and what’s their recovery time look like," said Leigh Weiss, chair of the NFL’s soft tissue injury task force.

Weiss is also the New York Giants director of rehab.

Bryan Heiderscheit will lead the study as part of a team of medical researchers at the University of Wisconsin.