Kyle Van Noy Rips 'Unprofessional' Chiefs' Training Staff For Slow Response To His Eye Injury
Kyle Van Noy suffered a fractured orbital bone in last Thursday's season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, the Baltimore Ravens linebacker is slamming the Chiefs' training staff for its delayed and "unprofessional" response to the injury.
On Tuesday's episode of his McCoy & Van Noy podcast, Van Noy claimed that Kansas City's trainers took an entire quarter before they evaluated him, which led to a delay in him being ruled out for the remainder of the game.
"I was disappointed in the way the training staff of the Chiefs handled the situation," Van Noy said. "When things like that hurt, especially something that could be serious like mine was, you're supposed to rely on the team's training staff or their doctors, and I was supposed to see an ophthalmologist — which is somebody who checks out eye(s), performs eye surgery. And they took an entire quarter to get down to talk to me in the locker room. Which, to me, is unacceptable."
Kyle Van Noy Criticizes Calls Chiefs' Training Staff ‘Unprofessional’
Van Noy said he doesn’t think the lack of urgency from Chiefs' trainers stemmed from the fact that he's an opposing player. Rather, he believes the Chiefs do a poor job of treating injuries in general.
"Because then you start thinking, 'What if I was trying to go back in the game? What if I was really, really hurt?' I know mine was moderate, but it's still serious because it's an eye [injury]," he said. "And your expectation of someone to be down there as the training staff asked them to be down there would have had a little more urgency.
"The way it took time was super unprofessional to me. Especially because there were people in there too. One of the doctors, or the friend of the doctor was in there double-cup fisted, styrofoam cups like everything was good, and I just felt that was unprofessional."
Kyle Van Noy suffered a fractured orbital bone
(Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
And his accusations might not be entirely unfounded. In the NFLPA's team report cards released ahead of the season, the Chiefs received an "F" in five categories, and their training staff was rated as the worst in the NFL.
"I understand how Kansas City, the players have given that training room an F. Because with my experience, I would have probably gave them an F, too," Van Noy said. "Yeah, they ended up figuring a little bit, but it was just, the unprofessionalism."
On the other hand, though, the two-time Super Bowl champ praised the emergency room staff at the University of Kansas Medical Center for caring for him after the fact.
"They took care of me into the wee hours of the morning," Van Noy said. "[They] did an awesome job getting all the info really quickly, and so I appreciate that. So, if they did have their hands on that, I do applaud them for that. Everything went smoothly."
Van Noy said he is still undergoing tests with specialists. He has not yet been given a timetable for his return.