As a way to make it up to you all (all 3 of you) for not posting this AM to prep you for the Week 12 slate, I’m going to do a quick rapid fire post on my initial thoughts about some important and significant injuries this weekend as we near the fantasy playoff season.
Andre Brown: Initial thoughts are that he fractured his fibula, which is obviously a big time injury. I’ve talked in the past about how fibular fractures’ prognosis differ depending on the sport or activity level of the individual (https://ziaddahdul.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/fibular-fractures-why-you-should-pay-attention-to-steve-nash/). In Brown’s case, my first thought is that you can basically say goodbye to him contributing to your team for the 2012 fantasy season. 4 weeks (absolute, 100% best case scenario, and it’s still a long shot) puts us in Week 16, which is most people’s fantasy championship. Do you have the luxury of saving his roster spot just in case? If you don’t need his spot, by all means hang onto him. But I think his fantasy season is done. David Wilson is your pickup if you need the help.
Kendall Hunter: He suffered an ankle injury in the win over the Saints today. Not sure the extent of the injury and whether it’s a high ankle sprain/ankle sprain/fracture/midfoot injury/etc, but regardless, with him not returning to the game, the thought is that he’ll probably at least be out 1-2 weeks. The sneaky pickups become LaMichael James and/or Brandon Jacobs, who could both step in to spell Frank Gore should Hunter be out for a short or extended period of time.
Greg Jennings: I know he didn’t get hurt during Week 12, but he was so close to returning this week before the Pack ultimately decided to give him the inactive label. My expectation is that he’ll be back out there Week 13 and should be very valuable moving forward as the playoffs near. Besides a Week 15 tilt against Da Bears, he has very favorable match ups moving forward. I expect him to be healthy and ready to finish off the 2012 campaign with a bang.
Julio Jones: He looked pretty great today, running relatively smoothly and didn’t appear to have any setbacks throughout the course of the game. Remember, it’s a short week, with the Falcons playing the Saints on Thursday night. But with as good as he looked out there and Matt Ryan throwing the ball to the right team this week, expect Jones to be a bit closer to 100% on Thursday.
**My one caveat with short weeks: Just because you look good on Sunday doesn’t mean you’ll look even better the next time out. With any injury, a lot of guys can gut it out and get through the game unscathed. However, soreness following games (24-48 hours) is very, very common and is often expected when bouncing back from injuries. Always, always, always monitor status updates during the week and make sure he’s participating in practice to make sure he’ll play when Thursday rolls around.
Chicago Bears D/ST: With both Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs leaving Sunday’s game with injuries, keep an eye on how significant these injuries are. Tillman himself is responsible for 184 turnovers this year (rough estimate) and Briggs is key on run defense, which is a huge strength of this Bears’ D. Tillman was seen leaving the stadium in a walking boot, but this can absolutely be precautionary until more testing is done, so don’t read too much into that. Briggs left with a thumb injury, and unless it’s a fracture or a significant tendon/ligament tear, I can’t imagine he misses time. Wait and see with both of these guys.
Anyone Who Suffered a Concussion/Head Injury: Protocol for return to play will determine when these guys will come back. Teams and the league have done a great job of being cautious with these guys, so wait and see if they pass their IMPACT testing and are cleared by an Independent Neurologist prior to inserting anyone back into your lineup.
Ziad Dahdul 