Sorry kids, it’s been a busy week. Check out my Week 11 Injury Report over at FFLockerRoom.com for all the insights for the week. They also do a fantastic job of putting together weekly rankings and analyzing add/drop trends. Click the link below for all the details. Be back next week with a weekend recap and to get you ready for a Thanksgiving Thursday chalk full of games!
http://fflockerroom.com/2012/11/17/fantasy-football-week-11-injury-report/
Interesting match up tonight, with the surprising Colts playing a Jags team that is really struggling to do much of anything these days. Without MJD, they haven’t been able to generate much offensively and it seems that their defense thinks they’re playing flag football at times. Let’s take a quick look at some of the at risk guys and get an idea of who you can or can’t rely on this week.
Although Blaine Gabbert is still dealing with that torn labrum in his left shoulder, it hasn’t done much to slow him down as he’s been pretty solid since the injury. He looks like he’s a go tonight, don’t worry about any setbacks from this week, as he practiced fully both Tuesday and Wednesday.
On the other hand, Donald Brown has managed to go backwards a bit this week. He developed swelling in his post-surgical knee and managed to acquire a hip issue as well on that same side, so looks like he’s going to be a game time decision tonight. I’d expect him to either sit this week or be significantly limited if he plays. Vick Ballard is your guy if you’re owning anyone in that Colts’ backfield.
Donnie Avery suffered a hip injury during Sunday’s game, which has caused him to be limited all week this week. He did practice yesterday, so he looks like he will suit up tonight. No word on the exact injury, but the fact that he practiced at all yesterday means it can’t be too serious
One thing to watch for tonight is the availability of Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney. I would expect this Colts D to man-handle the struggling Jags’ offense, but on the road and possibly missing Mathis (Freeney seems much more likely to play) could be a huge advantage for the Jags’ passing game. Just something to make a note of if you’re thinking about using the Colts D/ST this week in what appears to be a very good match up on paper.
So lots of big news this wek, MJD being ruled out for this week and beyond, and potential disastrous news regarding Greg Jennings and Pierre Garcon. Let’s take a look at all the big injury news of the week and implications for this weekend’s games.
Blaine Gabbert: He took all the snaps during Thursday’s media portion of practice and seems to be on track to play this week. Look for him to be out there against the Pack as his sprained shoulder appears to be minor.
Ahmad Bradshaw: He didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday, which is no surprise at all with Bradshaw. This seems to be par for the course with him for the near future as it doesn’t seem worth it to risk setback during the week. Look for him to be out there this week barring any new issues when he inevitably practices on a limited basis on Friday. It appears this foot soreness is something he’s going to be dealing with for the rest of the season.
Trent Richardson: His ribs are sore and will probably continue to be sore for a couple more weeks. However, he practiced fully on Wednesday and seems to be ahead of schedule this week compared to last. Look for him to be out there against the Chargers, with things being pain-management based more than anything else.
Pierre Garcon: The official diagnosis now is a tear to the plantar plate in his foot. What is that exactly? The plantar plate is a ligamentous-type structure on the plantar surface (bottom of foot) of the balls of the feet. It functions to protect the metatarsal heads (balls of toes) from excessive pressure with weight bearing tasks. It also prevents our toes from over-extending during push off tasks like running and sprinting. When the planter plate tears, the stability of the individual toe is lost, causing direct pressure on the met heads (balls of toes) and sapping a person of their explosiveness and speed. In Garcon’s case, he has been unable to push off and plant/cut properly because his toes don’t want to absorb that amount of force without the proper stability from the plantar plate to counter the forces. Check out the picture to the right to see exactly where the plantar plate is, which will give you an idea of why he’s having such a hard time with going full speed. 
The word is that Garcon could potentially be shut down until after the Redskins’ week 10 bye week, which would be a great idea so that he could actually get off that foot, protect in a bit more from movement to allow it to heal, and see if more conservative measures would be beneficial. If this doesn’t settle down in 3 weeks, I’d expect the Skins to potentially shut him down and look to surgery to get this thing taken care of. Typically, when an injury doesn’t respond well to conservative measures in 4-6 weeks, the next step needs to be looked at, which can consist of further imaging (MRI, X-Ray, CT scan), cortisone injection, or, the last resort, surgery. What do you do about his roster spot? If you have the luxury of waiting 1-2 weeks, I’d hold onto him until you got official word. But my gut feeling is that he’s not going to be contributing to your fantasy season for the rest of the year.
Greg Jennings: You can count on him not being in the lineup this week, or next week for that matter. His complications with the groin issue continue to get worse and it’s getting more difficult to figure out exactly what’s going on with it. Conflicting reports say that he could potentially need surgery to repair the groin issue and/or has a sports hernia that needs to be dealt with. Either way, he’s not back in the lineup anytime soon, and to be honest, they really don’t need him right now. Their offense is clicking and they’re playing the 1-5 Jaguars this week, so there is absolutely no rush with Jennings. Keep an eye on reports in the next week or so, but if you hear the word “surgery” being thrown around with him, you’re probably going to need a contingency plan if you don’t have one in place already.
Danny Amendola: Don’t kid yourself about him playing this week: He’s not. Since he separated his sternoclavicular joint (SC joint, connects your collar bone to your sternum, the breast bone) just 3 weeks ago, don’t expect much in the next week or two. But with the Rams having a bye week coming up in week 9, there’s an outside chance he plays in week 10. I would venture to guess that week 11 he’ll be back in the lineup. So if you have the ability to stash him for a couple more weeks, he should be back up to speed for the start of fantasy playoff season, which could be a huge boon to your lineup.
Jermichael Finley: Limited in practice Wednesday, still restricted by his shoulder injury, I think he’ll play this week and will be darn near 100% for week 9. Typically, it takes a couple weeks for an injury like a minor separated shoulder to resolve itself, so expect him to feel pretty good to go next week, when at least 4 weeks will have passed since hurting the shoulder.
DeMarco Murray/Felix Jones: Murray is believed to be out for this week against the G-Men, which was definitely expected. The prevailing thought is that his sprained foot was more minor than anything else, the expectation of him being out 2-3 weeks seems right on the money. But don’t look to count on him this week. Jones, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to ever want to benefit from an opportunity. He suffered a bone bruise in his knee during week 7, which could potentially limit him this week. He’s still expected to start this week, but his practice participation will give us some insight about how active he’ll be. Bone bruises are normally just trauma to the bone, which won’t predispose him to developing a more severe injury, but can be painful depending on the severity of the bruise. Look for him to play, but make sure he’s more active in practice on Friday, even if it’s limited.
Chris Johnson/Marshawn Lynch/Calvin Johnson: All listed with minor little injuries, all will play.
Aaron Hernandez/Rob Gronkowski/Wes Welker: The questionable 3 are all at it again, but rest assured that they will all be out there in London against the Rams. Gronk looked as close to his regular self as he has in weeks against the Jets and Hernandez’s snap counts continue to rise each week. Welker’s supposed ankle issue is more a Pats injury report thing than anything else, as he’ll get treatment all week in preparation for their Friday departure for London. Look for all 3 to have great weeks against a not-so-great Rams secondary, although Welker may have his hands full dealing with Cortland Finnegan.
Donald Brown: He seems to be a little ahead of schedule in his return from arthroscopic knee surgery. They seemed to be targeting next week initially, but with his return to practice on Wednesday, there appears to be an outside chance that he plays in week 8. I wouldn’t bet on it, but if he gets himself to be close to a full participant by Friday, there’s an outside chance he goes. Hold onto Vick Ballard for this week, but with Brown potentially back next week at the latest, it appears Ballard will be very droppable at that point.
More to come later today, as I’ll touch more on who to play from tonight’s Bucs/Vikings contest
Ziad Dahdul 