Here’s a Week 5 Thursday Night Football injury preview and the first look at the rest of the slate from an injury perspective.
Thursday Night Football
Jahan Dotson - Ankle
There’s not a clear angle of how Dotson injured his ankle, so given his full participation status it's best to view him as moderately volatile. Average fantasy production takes a 10% dip, and the overall median comes down as well.
Curtis Samuel - Quad
Generally speaking, this injury doesn’t tend to be as severe but he may see some volume limitations. Again, Samuel is only a deeper league consideration.
Guys to monitor throughout the week
Jimmy Garoppolo (concussion)
Derek Carr (shoulder)
Kenny Pickett (bone bruise)
Matthew Stafford (hip)
Javonte Williams (hip/”quad”)
Kyren Williams (hip)
Rhamondre Stevenson (thigh)
Saquon Barkley (high ankle)
Pat Freiermuth (hamstring)
Tee Higgins (Ribs)
Amon-Ra St. Brown (abdomen)
Treylon Burks (Knee)
Rashod Bateman (hamstring)
Kadarius Toney (toe)
Odell Beckham Jr. (ankle)
Jerry Jeudy (knee)
Zay Jones (knee)
Cooper Kupp (hamstring)
WanDale Robinson (knee)
Deebo Samuel (Ribs/knee)
Quarterbacks
Jimmy Garoppolo - Concussion
Still in protocol but should be a lock to play.
Derek Carr - Shoulder
Carr probably should have sat out Week 4, and it showed. His accuracy should improve in Week 5, but he’s not worth a look again yet unless it's a SuperFlex league.
Kenny Pickett - Bone Bruise
These bruises are extremely painful, but as of today, Pickett is tracking to play. Don’t expect as much mobility. He’ll be volatile as he’ll be playing through pain.
Matthew Stafford - Hip
McVay has said Stafford will play, and he’s certainly trending that way. Just remember Stafford is one hit away from another head/neck injury which makes him volatile. Knock on wood profusely.
Running Backs
Kyren Williams - Hip
Williams didn’t practice, but McVay says he’ll give it a go on Sunday. He’s moderately volatile for now.
Saquon Barkley - High Ankle
It’ll be hard to bench Barkley. In 2019 when he returned from his first high ankle sprain, he saw 100% of his usual touches and scored 90% of his usual fantasy points.
Wide Receivers
Cooper Kupp - Hamstring
What do you do if you’re a Kupp manager? Well, if you’re 1-3 or 0-4, start him confidently. If you’re 3-1 or 4-0, there’s an argument to be made there’s no need to. Since 2018 WRs who miss 2+ games and return after a hamstring strain see 91% of their usual first-read targets. Unfortunately, that results in only 70% of typical fantasy production. Now, in Kupp’s case, that would, in theory, mean 17 PPR points. Realistically, though, he won’t play a full snap count and will be limited physically. A Christian Watson-type return is in the cards for Kupp, but it's historically the wrong move to assume he’ll step right back into a massive workload in his first week back.
Amon-Ra St. Brown - Abdomen
We don’t believe players when they’re talking about injuries, generally speaking, but damn it if I don’t want to believe ARSB when he says he’ll play. Last season he played through an ankle sprain after not practicing for 2 days but the stat line looked…not great. Hope for the best here on Amon-Ra.
Tee Higgins - Ribs
At this point it would be wise for the Bengals to sit Higgins but as we saw last year, they’ll activate him even if he’s not ready. I’m personally benching Tee Higgins and living with the result on the small chance he even plays.
Deebo Samuel - Ribs
Samuel is clearly not 100% and might not be for another 2-3 weeks. You can’t bench Deebo, so just hope that he’ll be close to his old self sooner rather than later.
Tight Ends
Pat Freiermuth - Hamstring
The Steelers’ tight end will likely be out for the next 2-3 weeks at best.
Good luck!
