This article will recap all fantasy-relevant injuries. Remember, we are operating with limited information, and as the week progresses, situations will become clearer. The following teams are on bye this week:
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears
Las Vegas Raiders
Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants
Dorian Thompson-Robinson - Concussion
DTR was ruled out with a concussion, and unfortunately, there isn’t a good trend to rely on for QBs after a concussion. Derek Carr had 2 weeks to recover, Jaren Hall wasn’t going to start anyway, Jimmy Garoppolo missed 1 game and Brock Purdy returned in 6 days. So quite literally, your guess is as good as mine!
Bottom Line: Watch his status.
Amari Cooper - Ribs
Cooper was ruled out with a ribs injury, and his X-rays are reportedly negative. Don’t take that to heart quite yet, though, as they’ll need a CT scan to ensure he doesn’t have cartilage fractures. Generally speaking, WRs miss 0.7 games with this injury on average. Breaking it down further, 66% of WRs miss 0 games while 18% miss 1 game. The best-case scenario here is he’ll play through the injury like DK Metcalf did earlier this season. Or he’ll miss just one game. At worst, this is a 2021 A.J. Brown-type injury and he’ll miss 3-4 weeks (which I don’t expect).
Bottom Line: As long as his CT scan is negative, I don’t expect Cooper to miss any more than 1 game.
Chris Olave - Concussion
Things aren’t looking great for Olave, who has now sustained his second concussion in two years. I want to emphasize how different every human and every brain injury is before giving the data. This is why concussions are almost impossible to project. But we’ll give it a try anyway. Of fantasy-relevant WRs who sustained a concussion in 2022 and then again this season, they’ve all missed at least 1 game. To make matters worse, in 2023, only 16% of WRs who sustained a concussion missed 0 games. On the bright side, Davante Adams and Chris Godwin were 2 of those 3 WRs, which I’m sure is pure coincidence and has nothing to do with their profile or role on the team.
Bottom Line: Prepare to be without Chris Olave and be pleasantly surprised if he clears.
Demario Douglas - Concussion
Things don’t get less tricky as Douglas dealt with a concussion this season in Week 6. Now, Douglas says he doesn’t have a concussion which is great, but he was still ruled out. This one will be a situation to monitor in a year where his teammate has missed 4 games due to a recurrent concussion, and KJ Osborn and Jonathan Mingo cleared protocol but did not play the following week.
Bottom Line: Douglas should be available next week (the Patriots are on bye), but his situation will be one to monitor.
Rashid Shaheed - Thigh/Quad
From 2018 to 2022, there were 27 WRs who had a thigh/quad injury. In that sample, only 26% missed at least 1 game, and only 15% missed 2 or more games.
Bottom Line: Shaheed will face an uphill battle to play in Week 13 but Week 14 is on the table.
Below is a table of fantasy-relevant injuries with close projected return timeframes:
Expect updates throughout the week, and make sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel here dedicated to up-to-the-minute updates and breakdowns.
