Starters coming back from injury often get hurt again, but how often depends heavily on the injury. This chart shows, for each injury, how often returning NFL starters were back on the injury report with the same injury, and how often they missed another game with it.

How to read it

• Each row is one injury. Every percent is a share of the returning starters for that injury.
• Dark blue: back on the injury report with the same injury within 8 weeks of returning.
• Teal diamond: the same, within 4 weeks.
• Orange: missed another game with the same injury within 8 weeks. This is the real setback rate, and it is always lower than the blue.
• Example: Foot shows 52.7% back on the report within 8 weeks, 49.1% within 4 weeks, and 9.1% missing another game.

What stands out

• Across all injuries (1,573 returns by starters), 37.8% were back on the report within 8 weeks, and 9.7% missed another game.
• Knee (51%), shoulder (52%), foot (53%) and ankle (50%) are back on the report about half the time. Concussions are the lowest at about 10%.
• Hamstrings are the exception. They go back on the report less often (36%) but miss another game more often (13%) than most injuries.

How to use it
Compare the blue and orange dots for the player’s injury. The blue tells you how likely a questionable tag is, and the orange tells you how likely he is to miss time again. Leave the Injury filter blank to see every injury, or pick one to focus on it.

Good to know

• Only returning starters are counted. Players need at least 8 weeks left in the season after their return, so the full window can be measured.
• Injuries with fewer than 30 returns aren’t shown.
• Many “reported again” cases are routine injury-report listings and not setbacks. Teams also differ in how often they list players, so use the orange dots to judge real setbacks.