Orthopaedic and brain injuries over last 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL): number and effect on missed playing time.

Objective: To examine trends in number and seriousness of major injuries in the National Football League (NFL) over seasons 2010-2019 and the effect of rule changes to injuries to the leg, back, arm and head.

Methods: We calculated, from publicly available weekly injury reports, the number of players that were injured and playing time missed, that is, the number of weeks on average that an injured player had to sit out, as a function of injury to a specific body part. Using classical time series analysis techniques, we fitted injury data with linear and non-linear functions.