Union Says NFL Is Hiding Injuries

The research director for the National Football League Players Assn. charged Wednesday that the league is suppressing information about player injuries this season in response to union criticism of artificial turf fields.

M.J. Duberstein said NFL statistics show that the injury rate after eight games this season is 25% below the level at the same point in the 1984 season. And the number of injured players listed as “probable” for each week’s games has decreased by 40%, he said.

Last January, the players’ association released a study of injury rates on natural turf and on synthetic surfaces in the 1983 and 1984 football seasons, using data from weekly injury reports issued by the NFL. The union found that the average number of injuries per week rose 18%. Duberstein said that while the average number of injuries per week on grass remained constant, the rate on artificial turf went up 36%.

Joe Browne, NFL director of communications, said that Duberstein’s accusation was “absolutely false.”

Asked why the number of injuries might have decreased from 1984 to 1985, Browne said: “I can’t tell you why injuries are down.”