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:
Arizona Cardinals
Washington Commanders
Tank Dell - Ankle
The unfortunate reality is this injury looked eerily similar to Darnell Mooney’s in 2022 which resulted in a season-ending fracture. Accordingly, Dell is out for the season.
Trevor Lawrence - Ankle
Last night Lawrence sustained a gnarly lateral or “low” ankle sprain. So far, reports are that this is just a sprain which is great news. The MRI is still pending, but there’s a chance Lawrence doesn’t miss much time at all, depending on how the Jaguars decide to play this. With the Browns and Ravens on deck, it’s hard to imagine Lawrence sitting even if he’s heavily taped and less than 85%. Still, don’t count him out. Generally speaking, QBs miss 0.25 games per ankle injury, so things continue to look promising so long as Lawrence can get swelling and pain reduced to a tolerable level.
Jalen Hurts - Concussion Protocol
Hurts was evaluated for a concussion in Week 13 but returned. You need to prepare as if he’s still in protocol, as we’ve seen countless times players can report symptoms in the following days.
Kenny Pickett - Ankle
Picket underwent a tightrope procedure on his ankle. Allegedly he’ll attempt to return in 2-4 weeks, which is awfully optimistic. We saw this kind of optimism with Ryan Tannehill last season, which of course, never came to fruition. It’s time for the Mitch Trubisky experience.
Derek Carr - Concussion/Ribs
Carr has been absolutely battered this year. In Week 13, he re-injured every issue that had been ailing him. Carr has battled through but these injuries could effectively end his fantasy season.
“It’s Jameis time.” - Jameis Winston, probably
Derrick Henry - Concussion Protocol
The average amount of missed time for these is 1.2 games with a median of 0.5 and mode of 0 games. In theory, 8 days should be enough time for athletes to get through the protocol, even if they have to start over. However, protocol isn’t purely time-based, and every human brain is different. The best news we could get is from Mike Vrabel, who confirmed Henry has not shown any symptoms (as of Tuesday morning). Now he could still wake up tomorrow with a headache making his chances to play slim. Still, like Gus Edwards and Alexander Mattison he’s on track to return in 1 calendar week. Tyjae Spears should be (and probably is) rostered in 100% of leagues. However, Henry has a decent shot to play.
Rhamondre Stevenson - High Ankle
There’s legit concern Rhamondre misses the rest of the 2023 fantasy season (or a big chunk of it). Since 2016 RBs most frequently miss 3 games with these injuries. The average is 2.2 missed games. Stevenson will likely need 2-3 calendar weeks to return to action.
Amari Cooper - Concussion
Cooper exited Week 13 with a concussion which is his second documented head injury since 2017. The mean amount of missed time for WRs is 0.52, with a median and mode of 0 games. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again that every brain injury is different, but in theory, Cooper will be available with a re-injury risk of 8% and a dip in fantasy production of 36%, which is also accompanied by a 31% dip in targets per route. As long as things go well, Cooper will be available in Week 14, albeit on a potentially limited basis due to lack of practice time with the game plan.
Christian Watson - Hamstring
Since 2018 WRs who have a hamstring reinjury have missed an average of 1.7 games. The median is 2 games. The Packers have also been extremely conservative this season. Watch his status and know that his re-injury risk again in Week 14 is through the roof.
Christian Kirk - Groin
We’re all mature adults here, right? OK. Christian Kirk may have crushed his testicles last night, and the med staff called it (rightfully so) a groin injury. If this is a traditional muscle groin strain, NFL WRs miss an average of 1 game like Drake London did earlier this season. If this is a testicle injury, 0-1 games is still the timeline.
Marquise Brown - Heel
We could have seen this coming, as Hollywood didn’t practice all week due to this injury. This could be a handful of things. Best case, it’s a bruise, and worst case, it’s plantar fasciitis which is notoriously painful. (Amari Cooper has battled plantar fasciitis for years.) This will be a pain-tolerance thing as the Cardinals head into the bye week.
Brian Robinson - Hamstring
Robinson’s hamstring injury is his second since college, which doesn’t help. What does help is his relatively young age. RBs who average at least 9 PPR points per game (since 2018) miss an average of 1.5 games while the median and mode is 1 game. With the bye week coming up, he has a decent chance of suiting up in Week 15. Still, his re-injury risk is 24%, with a steep decline in yards per route and routes run.
