Injury Roundup: Week 5
The fantasy football grim reaper took his scythe to many a fake team this week. Let’s see how many players he scooped out of your lineups mercilessly.
Montee Ball suffered a groin injury early in the Broncos matchup with the Cardinals on Sunday. A source tells the Denver Post that the initial belief is that Montee Ball will be out "for a while." He will receive an MRI on Monday and we’ll get a better prognosis, but with this initial report it will be worth grabbing his backup in the Broncos’ lethal offense.
Of course the question of how the running back touches will shake out is a tough one to answer. Ronnie Hillman has been the #2 back over the last two weeks and C.J. Anderson was a healthy scratch this week, most likely due to his lack of special teams ability. Hillman looked better than Ball this week, but that wouldn’t be tough to do, as Ball hasn’t looked good all season. Hillman will most likely lead the way with C.J. Anderson getting some early down and/or goal line work. Hopefully we’ll get some more insight into this before you have to put your waiver requests in.
Calvin Johnson aggravated his ankle injury against the Bills on Sunday and never returned to the game. Although reports were that he wouldn’t be used mainly as a decoy this week, he was mainly used as a decoy, of course until he caught a pass and was tackled and reinjured. They’ll perform some tests and we’ll know more Monday, but his Week 6 status against the Vikings is definitely not looking good.
Rashad Jennings left the Giants win over the Falcons with a knee injury and will undergo an MRI on Monday to see the extent. Jennings seems optimistic that it isn’t a long term injury, but Andre Williams was the every down back with Jennings out, so there is a clear backup who can produce waiting on many waiver wires if Jennings misses any time.
Jimmy Graham hurt his shoulder against the Buccaneers Sunday. He was allowed to come back in the game and made a catch, but had to leave again as he was in obvious pain. A source tells ProFootballTalk.com that the injury "currently isn't believed to be serious." That’s good news, but of course there will be further testing. Ben Watson saw the most uptick in work, but would still be a poor pickup if Graham were to miss time.
Reggie Bush left the Lions game against the Bills with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter, but afterward downplayed the extent of the injury. "I feel good, but we'll see," Bush said. Joique Bell was out this game after suffering a concussion the week before, but has been progressing in the concussion protocol. Theo Riddick has been dealing with a hamstring injury, so George Winn saw work in this game and looked serviceable. So there are a lot of moving parts right now, but first we need to know who is healthy or at least how hurt they are.
Drew Stanton suffered a concussion in Sunday's loss to Denver and was replaced by fourth-round rookie Logan Thomas. Stanton will have to pass through the NFL's protocol concussion tests to be able to play against Washington next Sunday, but there is some hope that Carson Palmer may be cleared to play next week. Let’s hope for the sake of the Cardinals’ fantasy players that he is cleared.
Malcom Floyd was forced from the Chargers beat down of the Jets with a calf injury. There haven’t been any updates on his status at this point, but if he can’t go next week Eddie Royal would see a decent bump in playing time.
Zac Stacy left Sunday's game versus Philadelphia with a left calf injury. He was quickly ruled out, which could mean it is a significant injury. We’ll learn more later, but the Rams get the tough 49ers run defense on Monday night, so his backups Benny Cunningham and Trey Watts won’t have an immediate impact, but Cunningham would be the pickup if the injury looks to keep Stacy out.
Jake Locker hurt his thumb on his throwing hand when he hit a lineman’s helmet in the game against Cleveland. The X-rays came back clean, but we’ll need to wait for tests to see if there is any soft tissue damage. Charlie Whitehurst would get the start against the Jaguars if Locker can’t go.
Donald Brown left the game against the Jets with a concussion. Branden Oliver came on as the feature back and put on a show as he totaled 182 yards and two touchdowns. I believe it’s safe to say Oliver has earned himself more playing time and if Brown can’t go next week, would be the main back against a weak Raiders defense.
Other Injury Notes:
Danny Amendola left Sunday night's game against the Bengals with a head injury. . . Eagles’ RB/KR Chris Polk left the game against the Rams with a hamstring injury. . . Cardinals’ defensive end Calais Campbell will miss 3-4 weeks with an MCL sprain. . . . Jets inside linebacker David Harris hurt his shoulder in Sunday's loss at San Diego. . . Chargers right tackle D.J. Fluker left the stadium on crutches after injuring his ankle against the Jets. . . Chargers’ center Doug Legursky was forced from the game against the Jets with a knee injury. Chargers centers are cursed. . . Browns’ nose tackle Phil Taylor left the game against the Titans with a knee injury. . . Eagles inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans suffered a groin injury during Sunday's win over the Rams. . . Cowboys’ middle linebacker Rolando McClain was forced from Dallas' game against the Texans after aggravating his groin injury. . . Bears’ linebacker Jon Bostic left the loss to the Panthers with a back injury. . . Patrick Peterson sprained his ankle in Sunday's loss at Denver. . . Titans’ strong safety Bernard Pollard left the stadium Sunday on crutches with what looks to be an Achilles injury . . . Steelers’ safety Shamarko Thomas was forced from the game against the Jaguars with a left hamstring injury. . . Panthers’ cornerback Bene Benwikere left the game against the Bears with an ankle injury. . . Panthers’ safety Josh Norman was forced from the Bears’ game with a shoulder injury. . . Bears’ free safety Chris Conte left the game with a concussion.
