Week 10 Injury Updates: Set That Lineup

With breaking news that both Percy Harvin and Aaron Hernandez are going to be out this week, some owners are left scrambling for fill-ins. While Harvin’s absence doesn’t surprise me (I think he’s got a two to three week time line), Hernandez missing this game is a bit shocking. He’s had two full weeks of rest and seemed primed to come out of the bye completely healthy. This screams one thing to me: setback in practice. My guess is he reaggravated the ankle during practice this week, causing him to take a step or two back. We’ll keep an eye out for both guys for week 11, but let’s talk a bit about the guys who are slated to play this week and what you should expect to see.

Calvin Johnson: He’s an absolute stud, so he’ll play. He had a great week 9, even though he still appears limited. Expect him to draw a ton of attention, even more so if Titus Young doesn’t play. That nerve injury he spoke about early in the week? Don’t worry about it, as he seems to have bounced back from that. Watch out for any signs of discomfort in the knee, which has plagued him for weeks.

CJ Spiller: He reappeared on the injury report with a shoulder issue, which stems from the separated shoulder he suffered earlier in the season. It’s not out of the ordinary for him to have some shoulder soreness after an injury like that, but it’s disconcerting that he’s popped back up on the injury report. Expect him to play this week, but any setback when his shoulder is a bit vulnerable could be a weeks-long issue.

Marshawn Lynch: Back, wrist, whatever it is, he practiced fully on Friday, so there’s no risk for him missing this week. He’s a gamer, so expect him to produce.

Guys who are banged up, but shouldn’t be limited:
Adrian Peterson (just caught a cold, he’ll be good), Lesean McCoy (same as AP), Law Firm (sensing the illness theme?), Willis McGahee (knee soreness), Mikel Leshoure (ankle, showed no limitations at all), Frank Gore, Jamaal Charles, Dez Bryant (hip appears to have calmed down quite a bit, he looks ready to go), Eric Decker (full practice Thurs/Fri), Demaryius Thomas (knee soreness), Rob Gronkowski (don’t even think about sitting him), Jerome Simpson (I like him as a deep sleeper this week, so why not give him the kiss of death as my SLEEPER O THE WEEK)

Banged up, possibly limited, but will play:
Ahmad Bradshaw (he hasn’t been the same recently, basically since playing the Niners in week 6, he’ll play, but limit your expectations), Andre Brown (seems like he has a shoulder sprain, possibly similar to CJ Spiller, will play, but could be bothered), Felix Jones (limited more because he kind of sucks, knee issue seems to be almost past him), Any non-Issac-Redman-Steelers-RB (I still dont trust Mendenhall’s Achilles issue, he’s a walking risk right now, Dwyer is probable, but Quad strains are tough to push through), Steve Johnson (I almost put him in the above section, but he did look a bit limited last week, so he goes here, great matchup though)

Banged up, definitely not the same:
Hakeem Nicks (poster child for this section, he says all the right things and practices fully, but these flare ups in his knee are pretty problematic, more so because they keep coming back, knee swelling itself isn’t the main issue but can be indicative of an underlying pathology, I wouldn’t blame you if you sat him until he showed something), Danny Amendola (I think it’s one week too soon, I could be totally wrong, but it seems too soon to me from such a freak injury)

Out fo sho:
Alshon Jeffery (still trying to work back from a broken hand, next week seems likely), Darren McFadden (high ankle sprain, 2-3 weeks at least in my book), Antonio Brown (possibly same as McFadden, didn’t look as serious though), DeMarco Murray (next week possible, don’t know for sure until he gets some practice time on his sprained foot), Darren Sproles (hand surgery two weeks ago, expect him back at the low end of the initial timeline, 4 weeks).

Wednesday Injury Report (Megatron, Dez, Tannehill & more)

Ryan Tannehill was seen taking 1st team reps at practice on Wednesday and was wearing a sleeve over the thigh and knee to help protect his strained quad and bone bruise. However, Matt Moore was also seen taking snaps, and some reports even said that Tannehill wasn’t limping/favoring the leg, but not going full speed. I’m not sure if that was more by design or if it was something that was limiting him, but keep an eye on the situation as bone bruises can be very painful when you get hit or land on that area and, as I’ve stated in the past, they’re slow healers.

Both Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray missed practice on Wednesday. Bryant’s hip injury seems to be limiting him a bit, but there’s not reports about the extent or severity of the injury, so hard to tell if this was precautionary or not. Watch his participation levels as Friday approaches and see if things change for the better, but barring a setback, I can’t imagine he doesn’t play this week. Murray, on the other hand, needs to get back onto the practice field before he can get back into game shape, so him missing practice today is a bit concerting. I’d lean more towards him not playing, taking another week to allow the foot to heal, but with the Cowboys’ backfield such a mess, I can see why they’d want to rush him back. Again, monitor practice participation this week.

Mikel Leshoure did not practice Wednesday, which leads me to believe that the leg injury he suffered during Sunday’s game was a bit more serious than Coach Schwartz led the media folks to believe. Obviously, with a diagnosis of “leg injury”, it’s hard to say what’s going on exactly, but another report came out after practice that said Leshoure missed practice for personal reasons and not anything injury related. Either way you slice it, you may want to speculatively Joique Bell as insurance just in case Leshoure can’t go as Bell did get the bulk of the carries at the end of the game in Leshoure’s place.

I’m starting to get worried about Calvin Johnson and his bum knee, as he just hasn’t looked like himself the last couple weeks. Even with the Lions’ offense finally getting of the schneid and putting up a solid day, it was all done without Johnson being more than a decoy. Granted he’s drawing double teams constantly and getting a lot of the defense’s attention, which can explain his lack of production as well, but also remember that he’s been getting double teamed for years and it never stopped him before. My biggest concern is his lack of explosiveness and burst. A few times I saw him going up for balls that were a bit high and it seems like he’s not exploding into the air as he normally does. He’s probably going to sit out tomorrow’s practice as well (he didn’t practice today) with limited participation on Friday, but I don’t think there’s any chance he misses game time. Just monitor the situation and see if any setbacks/progress are noted.

I read something interesting about Jake Locker and the reason why he’s been out so long with this dislocated shoulder issue. Apparently, he’s been dealing with a fracture in the region as well, which totally explains why he’s sat week after week. Remember our 6 week fracture healing rule of thumb, so that puts him on track to play week 11 or 12. Just an FYI if he’s out there on the waiver wire, week 10 might be a good time to snatch him up.

 

Week 4 Injury Reactions

Week 4 brought us very highly anticipated returns from fantasy studs like Fred Jackson, CJ Spiller, Reggie Bush, and possibly Matt Forte (looks like he’s got a shot at being active). It also left us wanting, with guys like Hakeem Nicks, Aaron Hernandez, and Kenny Britt still on the shelf. Here’s some initial reactions about the guys that did play and a look ahead to Week 5 for the guys who didn’t.

Fred Jackson: This was one game that I watched from beginning to end (gotta watch my beloved Pats) and, though he didn’t do too much out there numbers-wise, he didn’t look limited in the least big. He broke a 30+ yard screen pass on one play and pushed off that R foot just fine. I thought the Bills coaching staff did a great job of managing his touches, but they’re offense just kept turning the ball over, which made it difficult to stay intent on running the football. He said he had some soreness in the knee afterwards, but so long as it doesn’t turn into swelling and stiffness, I feel pretty good about him. I like him a lot going forward and would go back to playing him week in and week out.

CJ Spiller: His return just didn’t go as well. I feel vindicated in my analysis of him and Fred Jackson, as I said they could both very well be ok, but I wouldn’t trust them in the first week back. I don’t think the shoulder contributed to his lack of production, but when he was tackled and driven into the ground, he was visibly grabbing onto his injured shoulder, leading me to believe that he basically reinjured that sucker again. He said after the game that it felt sore, and I think he came out of the game worse than Jackson because I visibly saw him favoring his shoulder during the game. At first glance, I’d sit him again next week, especially with as good as Jackson looked, the Bills won’t feel quite as rushed. Unless he miraculously is 100% in less than a week (he won’t be), I’d sit him again.

Jared Cook: He played on Sunday, getting 4 targets and catching 3 of them. He didn’t hit pay dirt, but he did come out of the game unscathed and should be much closer to 100% next week. They also played a very, very tough Texans D, so hopefully you took my advice and sat him. It also didn’t help that Jake Locker (more on him in a minute) was knocked out with a aggravation of his separated shoulder (it must be AC sprain season), relegating Cook to catching passes from Matt Hasselback. Look for Hasselback to start next week, which could mean a slight decrease in Cook’s value.

Jake Locker: He really took a hit to that separated left AC joint and subluxation (think of it as a mini dislocation, where the ball pops out slightly, but re-sets itself), leaving the game after getting driven into the ground. I’m thinking this is the time they make the decision to sit him for a week and let things settle. Pick up Hasselback if you need a guy or look for an Andy Dalton type out on the wire. An MRI after the game revealed no structural damage to the left shoulder, but I still don’t trust it. Make sure you sit him.

Dwayne Bowe: There was doubt about his effectiveness with a quad strain this week, which can really limit a player’s burst due to the strength and power housed within such a large muscle group. Must not have been a very serious strain because he looked great on Sunday. With unrest at QB for the Chiefs, change could be coming. But in terms of Bowe’s status moving forward, all signs point to him being healthy heading forward. Play him.

Santonio Holmes: Now that’s an injury that looked bad. Thankfully for Jets’ fans, the X-rays came back negative on his left foot. However, X-rays just tell a small part of the picture (bony pathology), as the important info will be his MRI results. Based on the mechanism of injury, I’d say a moderate to severe sprain of various ligaments around the ankle is plausible. We won’t know much til then, but my gut feeling is he’ll be out this coming week and possibly limited in week 6. Look for a fill in until then.

Jonathan Stewart: He finished Sunday with a disappointing 40 yards rushing, and from what I saw, didn’t look limited by the sprained toe. I think as long as he didn’t suffer a setback, the toe won’t be a lingering thing. My bigger concern is the time share he has going on with DeAngelo Williams and the fact that Cam Newtown is basically their goal line back. I’m not too high on Stewart at this point, and it’s really not injury related. I think his toe will be fine, but right now he doesn’t look like anything more than a decent Flex option.

Rob Gronkowski: He entered Sunday’s matchup questionable with a hip injury. The Pats are as tight-lipped as it gets when it comes to injuries, so I wasn’t able to find out what exactly was going on with his hip. But he didn’t looked bothered by it at all, as he caught a nice TD pass running the seam in the 2nd half and had a deep ball thrown to him that he should have caught, but was just short on. He looked just fine, I’d run him out there with confidence.

Steven Jackson: He was clearly limited by his groin strain and he really doesn’t look explosive right now. This is two weeks in a row without good burst, which is getting a little worrisome. My thought is that he’s doing ok during the week, getting treatment and working to calm down inflammation/stretch/strengthening the adductors (groin muscles), I just think the second he really tries to play free of thought, he begins to feel the restriction. One week of limitation was ok, as that’s expected. But with two weeks of limitation in a row, I’d be a bit concerned. Wait until the end of the week to make a decision, but if they play the whole “game time decision” card again, he may be an injury-sit this week. Look for Darryl Richardson if he’s out there as a handcuff or maybe a guy like Joique Bell, who looked solid as Mikel LeShoure’s backup.

Greg Jennings: See Steven Jackson above, as they’re both dealing with the same injury. Jennings’ is worse because he clearly hasn’t been the same and he actually had to leave the game. Coach Sherman even said Jennings looked how he was two weeks ago. Not looking good. Prepare for another missed game, maybe two, as he can’t seem to get over this groin strain. Leonard Hankerson could be an option, even Andre Roberts or Dominik Hixon.

Mikel LeShoure: This rounds up groin-strain central, as he played and finished the game as the lead carrier for the Lions. He didn’t look fantastic, but overall, he appears to be the guy right now in Detroit. He has the luxury of a bye week to get things right, but expect him to be the lead back with Joique Bell backing him up. (Anyone know what the hell happened to Kevin Smith??)

Matthew Stafford: He wasn’t limited by his hamstring strain, as he moved around well and didn’t have a noticeable limp. He’s not really looking like the Stafford we saw last year, but it doesn’t seem to be injury related. He’ll have a bye week to get things together and look for him to have a big game in Week 6.

Jeremy Maclin: I still think he’s bothered by the hip pointer injury he suffered two weeks ago and coming back as fast as he did didn’t do him any favors. I don’t like him right now, especially with all the “bench Vick” talk that was coming out of Eagles camp prior to Vick’s save-his-ass win against the Giants. It seems like a fluid situation, but Vick probably bought himself another couple weeks, but Maclin is clearly limited, in my opinion. I’m almost to the point where I sit him next week until something changes in his route running and explosiveness.

Willis McGahee: Nothing like playing the Raiders to make your ribs feel aaallllll better. He looked fantastic, finishing with 112 yards and 1 TD, also notching a full carry load of 19. He looks like a go from here on out.

Pierre Garcon: He lucked himself into a touchdown, recovering an RGIII fumble in the end zone. He was not targeted much at all and finished with 1 catch. Remember, he was the guy who RGIII was looking for early and often in Week 1, as it appeared they had developed good chemistry. So the fact that he was barely targeted should tell you he was still limited. They’re reporting he had no setbacks during the game, but who knows based on how he looked. They have a tough mactchup against the Falcons this week, so monitor the injury reports this week and plan accordingly. Leonard Hankerson might not be a bad handcuff, as he appeared to be the next go-to guy.

LeSean McCoy: Word was he “tweaked” his knee during the Giants game, which typically means a mild ligament sprain. There were no reports of swelling or a limp, which is a good sign. Monitor his practice status this week, but he should be out there for Week 5.

Rashard Mendenhall: With the bye week behind them, Mendenhall is reported to be ready to go for this coming week against the Eagles. October 7th puts him approximately 10 1/2 months post ACL tear, which is nearing that 1 year window. I wouldn’t necessarily play him his first week out there, but he seems to be on track to making an Adrian Peterson-like return. If he looks good

Ahmad Bradshaw: He didn’t have a great game, but the point is he looked good and didn’t have any setbacks. Andre Brown only had 5 carries compared to Bradshaw’s 13, so it’s clear who the lead back is. Look for Bradshaw to play better in Week 5.

Kenny Britt: He was held out of week 4, and Coach Munchak said it was done with an eye towards getting Britt out there for week 5. This ankle injury is a little troublesome, especially considering he was coming off an ACL injury last year. Like I mentioned earlier, with Locker out and Cook not fully healthy, it’s hard to like the Titans’ skills guys. One positive could be that Hasselback is more of a prototypical pocket passer and doesn’t scramble like Locker does, which could mean more throws to the outside in week 5.

Hakeem Nicks: This much post-surgical soreness this long after surgery is troublesome. I’m officially worried, being a Nicks owner and all. I just worry that he is re-aggravating either the area of the surgical site or placing too much strain on other regions of the foot to compensate. Either way, it’s bad news. Based on how early they ruled him out, I think they had an eye towards Week 5 (pure speculation). If he practices Thursday and Friday, limited or not, I’d probably chance it based on how he played against the Bucs when he was hurt. If he skips days and is labeled “game time decision”, I’d lean towards the bench.

Aaron Hernandez: Reports are he’s recovering nicely, maybe a little ahead of schedule. He wasn’t officially diagnosed with a high ankle sprain, but if you read my previous post on high ankle sprains (YOU DIDN’T?? How dare you. No excuses now: https://ziaddahdul.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/dodging-the-dreaded-high-ankle-sprain/), you know these injuries are tricky. I’m eyeing week 6 against the Seahawks, so I’d stay away from him regardless of what comes out this week. Too risky with all the options the Pats have. They have the luxury of not rushing him, so wait on it.

Ok kids, that’s it for now. I tried to give you guys a longer one today to make up for my lack of action this weekend. Will follow up Wednesday and Thursday once the practice reports come out. Enjoy!

Giants vs Panthers Injury Updates

Lots of big, big news today about a few star players for both sides being rule Out for the Thursday night contest between the Giants and Panthers. Let’s run down the ailments, what they mean for each player, and who you should call upon if you’re in a pinch.

Hakeem Nicks: If you’re an owner like me, you were probably ecstatic with Nicks’ output this past Sunday (10 catches, 199 yards, 1 TD). However, if you really watched the game, you’d see that he didn’t look 100% healthy at all. He was hobbling quite often between plays and seemed to favor his sore right foot a lot even while running routes. He was huge, but you could see that he wasn’t all there (scary that someone who wasn’t 100% can put up those numbers). Clearly, the surgically repaired R right foot (he had a pin inserted into the 5th metatarsal, the pinky toe of the foot, to help heal his the fracture he suffered during OTAs.

I’m not sure exactly what the setback is, whether it’s just soreness from playing back to back weeks or what, but this is clearly not a good sign. Any time someone coming off surgery has issues in the surgically repaired area and it’s enough to keep him out of a game, it’s a bad sign. I searched the internet for reports about the extent of his soreness, but can’t seem to find much. Play it week by week with him, but don’t expect a one week rest to be a cure-all. This could be a season-long issue.

What do you do this week to replace Nicks?? The Giants seem to be in a bind, with basically Victor Cruz being the only healthy offensive weapon out there. Martellus Bennett will get some more looks, but from a WR standpoint, it’ll probably come down to Reuben Randle and Ramses Barden to fill in for Nicks. Yes, slim pickins, but Randle has a lot of promise and I felt he could be a deep sleeper this year. I’d go his way over Barden, but I will say, neither option is enticing. If you’re trolling the waiver wire, some hot pick ups, if available, are Danny Amendola (I hope you listened to me before the season http://tinyurl.com/c3pzkg7), Brandon LaFell, Andrew Hawkins, and Donnie Avery. Besides Amendola, they’re all risky WR3’s, but if you’re in a pinch, they have upside.

Ahmad Bradshaw: He suffered a sprained neck during the contest against the Bucs, which could mean many things, but seems to imply that he irritated/stressed some ligaments in his cervical spine (Sprains refer to ligaments, Strains refer to muscle/tendon). From the way it sounds, he could just be having a tough time with the quick 3 day turnaround and is better off resting up instead of risking an even more severe sprain. My hunch? He sits this week and comes back for Week 4.

BUT, What do you do this week to replace Bradshaw?? Andre Brown is the obvious answer, who I hope you Bradshaw owners snatched up quickly once you saw he was hurt. He’s reported to be getting the majority of the carries this week with David Wilson’s fumblitis still in Coach Coughlin’s doghouse. And remember, the Panthers’ run defense doesn’t scare anyone, so I’d play Brown with confidence, especially after how decisive he ran in Bradshaw’s place on Sunday. Second best option?? Mikel LeShoure of the Lions is reportedly going to steal carries away from Kevin Smith now that he’s back from suspension. The coaching staff is said to want to give him a long look, which could start this week. In PPR leagues, Dexter McCluster is such a huge threat to catch passes out of the backfield, he could have a Sproles-like effect if the Chiefs have to throw often (which they will playing the Saints this week).

Jonathan Stewart: First the ankle, now the toe? Can this guy get any more frustrating for fantasy owners, after teasing us (yes, I’m one of the idiots who drafted him) with a touchdown and good, solid running on Sunday. Coach Rivera intimated that the toe and ankle injuries are a combo deal, meaning they’re one in the same. What can I take from that? Maybe compensatory running strategies to make up for the ankle pain/limitations, so he was putting more emphasis on pushing off through his big toe? He could have also developed a little turf toe (sprained big toe). It’s all pure speculation, but Coach Rivera was quick to point out that the short week really worked against Stewart, even saying that he probably could have played if the game was Sunday. I wouldn’t worry long term, but it’s concerning that he’s missed two out of three weeks.

What do you do to replace Stewart?? DeAngelo Williams is back to being option one, but I kind of like Mike Tolbert more because he will vulture any goal line carries away from Williams (although Cam Newton is the #1 vulture around the goal line). Williams is so hard to count on because he’s so inconsistent, so if you’re in a pinch, I’d definitely play him as a RB2/flex. But if you have another mid tier guy (Benjarvus Green-Ellis, Doug Martin, Stevan Ridley), I’d play one of them instead.

One guy I really like this week is Michael Bush of the Bears. With Forte out and no other legit carry-stealing threat on the roster, I think Bush is going to have a hell of a week. And don’t forget that the Bears are playing against a terrible (and very injured) Rams defense. I like Bush as a good value this week as an RB2.