I think you are really "stretching" on this. He played an entire season last year and spent 12 months at 250 lbs so his body was this way for a year. He then lost 25 lbs (10%) in 3 months. If anything, I'd say his better condition makes him less susceptible to injury. It could be as simple as last year, he wasn't in good enough shape to make the move he made which caused the issue.
Anyhow, none of us know for sure what his full training regimen was so it's just idle speculation. Maybe it contributed and maybe it didn't, we'll never know.
Yeah, I'm inclined to believe that he'd actually be
less injury prone now that he's leaner and putting less weight on his joints.
Typically we hear about guys getting injured after a big change in physique because they're putting on a whole bunch of muscle. The adjustment period comes when the joints are asked to hold all that extra weight, while lifting/pushing at a level which was not possible before the muscles got swole. All it takes is one little piece of the puzzle left undeveloped, and you get that *pop* and crutches for a month.
In this case, surely Darling didn't actually put on muscle while also losing 25lb in three months. It sounds like he just straight-up shed body fat, while by all indications would mean a lighter physical workload and less chance of blowing a knee or hip.
Most likely he just landed awkwardly and tweaked something. Has anyone seen a replay of the Smith goal?
