Tyrod Taylor filed a lawsuit seeking at least $5 million for the failed pain-killing injection that punctured his lung in 2020.
ESPN reported Sunday that Taylor sued Los Angeles Chargers team doctor David S. Gazzaniga and the Newport Orthopedic Institute for damages. Taylor was being treated for fractured rib cartilage when an injection targeting that area left him with a punctured lung and forced him out of the lineup to open the door for then-rookie Justin Herbert to become the starter.
Taylor is now the backup to Daniel Jones with the New York Giants.
A trial scheduled for November has been moved to April, ESPN reported based on court documents the network obtained.
Prior to the Sept. 20, 2020 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Taylor was being treated for the rib injury when Gazzaniga instead punctured one of the quarterback’s lungs, causing “severe physical pain resulting in hospitalization, physical therapy, emotional distress and other past pain and suffering,” Taylor says in the suit.
Attorneys in the claim stated “negligence, carelessness and other tortious, unlawful and wrong acts … caused (Taylor) to lose position as the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers for the 2020 season.”
“As he returned to free agency,” the lawsuit contends, “he entered as a back-up quarterback as opposed to a starting quarterback. The economic difference between a starting quarterback’s salary and a back-up quarterback salary is at least $5,000,000 and is more than likely much greater. The exact amount of such past and future loss is unknown to (Taylor) at this time, and he will ask leave of this Court for permission to amend this Complaint to set forth the total amount when ascertained.”
Taylor, 33, is 26-25-1 as a starter and has passed for 10,736 yards, 59 touchdowns and 25 interceptions in 78 games with five NFL teams since 2011. He made the Pro Bowl in 2015 with the Buffalo Bills.
–Field Level Media