Good Morning! Today’s fantasy football injury report includes a lot of circling back on injuries from this previous weekends games. I look at the injury reports and list those that missed practice entirely at this point in the week and go through who may be the replacement for them in that teams lineup.
QBs: Jimmy Garoppolo, Teddy Bridgewater
RBs: Dalvin Cook, Ezekiel Elliott, David Montgomery, Joe Mixon, Antonio Gibson, Melvin Gordon, Chase Edmonds
WRs: Julio Jones, Amari Cooper, Curtis Samuel, Russell Gage, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Dyami Brown, Cam Sims
TEs: George Kittle, Rob Gronkowski, TJ Hockenson, Logan Thomas, David Njoku, Tyler Kroft
Arizona Cardinals: Chase Edmonds (RB)/Maxx Williams (TE) - Both players were a surprise to the injury report on Wednesday with shoulder injuries. Neither player practiced in any capacity. Edmonds is currently splitting carries with James Conner and also has been the main receiving threat out of the backfield. Conner has struggled a bit early on with Arizona, only averaging 3.2 yards a carry and only has a couple receptions. I doubt Jonathan Ward or Eno Benjamin will take a big chunk of touches from Conner. Williams on the other hand has come out of nowhere as a solid TE2 threat in fantasy, putting up two 15+ weeks. Darrell Daniels is the backup on the team, and has only 12 career receptions through 5 seasons.
Atlanta Falcons: Russell Gage (WR) - For the third week in a row it seems that Gage may not play on Sunday. He is dealing with an ankle injury but never hit the IR for it. Olamide Zaccheaus is the WR2 behind Calvin Ridley at the moment. Zaccheaus has six receptions over the last three weeks on 13 targets, a clip that is not going to lead to success.
Chicago Bears: David Montgomery (RB) - Circling back on an injury from Sunday, Montgomery could not hit the practice field yesterday in any capacity. Due to this knee issue, the coaching staff has ruled him out for Week 5. Damien Williams and Khalil Herbert will be splitting the carries for the foreseeable future. Williams did have nearly 1000 total yards with K.C in 2019.
Cincinnati Bengals: Joe Mixon (RB) - Following Thursday Night Football it was revealed that Mixon suffered an ankle injury late in the game. That injury is still hampering him now as he was not at practice on Wednesday. Samaje Perine and Chris Evans will split the duties, Perine as early downs and Evans as passing. Perine rushed for 300 yards last season as the RB2 on the club. Evans is a rookie who has been seldom used as a pass catcher this season, putting up three catches in two games of being active.
Cleveland Browns: David Njoku (TE) - Formerly one of the hottest TE prospects in the draft, Njoku has struggled to put it together with Cleveland. This season he’s been playing as part of a trio of tight ends who have the ability to stretch the seam. He was not at practice on Wednesday due to a knee injury. If he cannot play this week, Harrison Bryant will be the guy behind Austin Hooper. Bryant has six receptions for nearly 70 yards through four games this season as a depth option.
Dallas Cowboys: Ezekiel Elliott (RB)/Amari Cooper (WR) - Both players were absent from practice on Wednesday due to nagging injuries, and neither intend on missing the game on Sunday. Elliott has a knee issue that is cropping up, giving those with Tony Pollard a glimmer of hope for an even distribution of touches this week. Pollard is one of the best RB2’s in the league as he’s rushed at a 7 yards per carry clip this season. Cooper is dealing with the same injuries that he has had for weeks now and limited him in practice previously. Cedrick Wilson is the WR3 on the field for the time being and has 9 receptions through four games, including two touchdowns.
Denver Broncos: Melvin Gordon (RB)/Teddy Bridgewater (QB) - Neither player was present at practice yesterday due to their injury situations. Gordon’s issue is a new one popping up on Wednesday, a lower leg contusion. Last week he had a leg injury and played through it, and it is unclear whether it is the same thing or not. Javonte Williams is the rookie who currently has split carries with Gordon thus far this season, rushing the ball at a 4 yards per carry clip. Bridgewater on the other side of the coin has a concussion, leaving Drew Lock as the starter until he comes out of protocol. Lock has started many games for the club, and led the league in interceptions last season.
Detroit Lions: TJ Hockenson (TE) - Whenever one of the top tight ends misses practice, fantasy owners take a deep breath. It’s next-to-impossible to replace a reliable player in the slot and Hockenson is supposed to be one of those guys. Apparently, TJ is dealing with a knee injury and maybe that is why he has struggled as of late. Darren Fells is the backup on the squad, and has shown flashes at times throughout his career. Fells put up 20/300 last season with Houston.
Minnesota Vikings: Dalvin Cook (RB) - Fantasy owners are pulling their hair out as Cook missed another practice on Wednesday with an ankle injury. It’s clearly impacting his game as he returned to play in Week 4 and struggled against the Browns. The only way to fix this issue is by having him sit until it’s 100%. Alex Mattison is the back up and has been solid, rushing at a 3.6 yard per carry clip.
New York Jets: Tyler Kroft (TE) - One of the more injury prone tight ends in the game, Kroft misses time on a yearly basis in some capacity. He currently is dealing with a back injury that kept him off the practice field on Wednesday. Ryan Griffin is the back up, a veteran tight end who put up 40/400 in 2019 with the Jets.
San Francisco 49ers: George Kittle (TE)/Jimmy Garoppolo (QB) - Both players were not present for practice on Wednesday as they deal with their leg injuries from previous games this season. Kittle played through his calf injury on Sunday and struggled, only bringing in four of the 10 targets set for him. Jimmy G is still dealing with swelling on his injury and that is opening the door for Trey Lance to make his NFL debut in Week 5 against the Cardinals. Lance looked good in relief last week, throwing for 150 yards and two touchdowns while not giving up a turnover.
Tennessee Titans: Julio Jones (WR)/Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (WR) - The wide receivers did not practice on Wednesday with hamstring injuries, the one to the latter being a newly found injury. Multiple receivers have suffered hamstring injuries in Tennessee this season, and has begun to make me wonder about the competence of the strength staff on the club. Nevertheless, AJ Brown returned to practice from his injury and thus will join Chester Rogers as the top two healthy wideouts on the team.
Washington Football Team: Antonio Gibson (RB)/Curtis Samuel (WR)/Dyami Brown (WR)/Logan Thomas (TE)/Cam Sims (WR) - I could go through each of these injury situations individually and give you an essay about how the Washington squad is going to be struggling this week to field a healthy roster. But I will save it. All of these players didn’t practice on Wednesday for some reason or another, and Thomas is on the IR. JD McKissic is banged up at RB as well behind Gibson, leaving Jarret Patterson as the healthy option in the backfield at the moment. The undrafted rookie has only a couple carries this season. The healthy no.2 WR on the club is Adam Humphries, and behind him is DeAndre Carter. Humphries has 11 catches through four games, and 9 of them came in the first two weeks of the season. Ricky Seals-Jones and John Bates will be taking over the tight end duties from Thomas. RSJ had 35/350 with Arizona in 2018.