NFL Player Injuries: 6 Teams That Lost Most Week 1

Football is a game that lends itself to injuries, and it doesn't matter how early in the season it is. Week 1 saw good players go down and for a significant chunk of the season, if not all of it.

Coping with injuries is important, as the Green Bay Packers mastered this last season with 15 players on injured reserve by the time of the Super Bowl.

These teams will have to prepare for games without meaningful parts in the future.

6. Houston Texans

Starting receiver Kevin Walter broke his left shoulder, and he'll be out for 10 weeks or more. Jacoby Jones will start alongside Andre Johnson, but Walter has worked well with Matt Schaub in a top passing offense.

For Texans fans, hopefully Jones starting doesn't mean that his returns are affected because of it. Running back Derrick Ward has an ankle injury but Ben Tate looks great. Ward is nice to have at the goal line if Arian Foster is unavailable.

It's not a huge loss to have when playing the Colts, but Kevin Walter does the dirty work, and that would have helped against better teams.

5. New Orleans Saints

Marques Colston broke his collarbone and his injury is believed to keep him out for around four seems low for that type of injury and the team's other top receiver from 2010,

Lance Moore, is banged up. Moore may miss Week 2 even after taking Week 1 off against the Packers. The Saints like having a bunch of options, but their options are going down left and right.

4. Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs safety Eric Berry has a torn ACL that will sideline him for the rest of the season. The secondary won't be the same without his playmaking and Kansas City looked to be on a downslope even with him.

The Bills lit up the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium for 41 without seeing Eric Berry for three quarters. How much will better teams score on Kansas City then?

3. Carolina Panthers

Jon Beason is gone for the season with a ruptured Achilles. His injury wasn't believed to be that serious initially but it turned out to be the worst scenario. 

Beason was injured for a significant part of last season. The defense isn't the same without him making tackles on running backs and covering versatile tight ends.

Ron Rivera has one less tool to work with for the remaining 15 games.

2. San Diego Chargers

Losing defensive lineman Luis Castillo to a broken leg is a huge deal because a 3-4 lineman of his caliber cannot be replaced. San Diego may look to bring in an accomplished player to rotate in and out just to have for the grind of a season.

Usually losing a kicker isn't a huge deal, but it is when the player is the most accurate field goal kicker ever. Such is the case with Nate Kaeding, who is believed to have a torn ACL.

Matt Scifres won't kick any more field goals in Kaeding's absence so the Chargers will have to find someone to play just decent in the role. Special teams for San Diego has been a big enough problem as is.

1. St. Louis Rams

St. Louis was hit hard with the injury bug week one against Philadelphia. Slot receiver Danny Amendola dislocated his elbow and his loss will be felt for an offense that was going to use him in a Wes Welker role.

Right tackle Jason Smith has a high ankle sprain while running back Steven Jackson has a thigh injury.

The most troubling detail is that quarterback Sam Bradford has a nerve injury to a finger on his throwing hand. X-rays were negative but nerve injuries don't show up during the procedure. The defense will have to be strong because Amendola and Smith won't be seen from for a while.