Mike Iupati proves injury reports likely a little bogus

The Arizona Cardinals introduced Mike Iupati on Wednesday, and his media sessions revealed something rather interesting.

Iupati said he played through a broken foot last year, impacted pass protection.

— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) March 11, 2015

I suppose the foot injury could impact his pass protection last season, but it's not like he had a history of great pass protection before that. While he has always been a great run blocker, his pass protection has left something to be desired. And for Drew Stanton and Carson Palmer, that will be kind of important.

What is more interesting, however, is that Iupati showed up twice on the injury report last year. He was listed in Week 7 with a concussion, and Week 15 with an elbow injury. That's it. He was never listed with a foot injury.

It is possible he just hid the injury from the coaches, and that was that. He would not be the first player to hide an injury. But hiding a broken foot seems like a bit more than hiding a concussion, or a bump or bruise where you can sort of fake it. Footwork as an offensive lineman is important, and with a broken foot, you'd think someone might notice something.

The injury report has always been viewed as something of a joke. We see Bill Belichick occasionally listing half the team as "questionable", including big names like Tom Brady. Jim Harbaugh's injury list frequently listed players as questionable when it was clear they would not be playing. Stevie Johnson mentioned late in the season that he had been dealing with a knee issue much of the season, but he was not listed with the knee injury until Week 14.

I don't think many people were taking the injury report overly serious prior to this, but if you were, this is one more reason to not take the report all that serious.