Fantasy Football Injury Review: Week 13

Should fantasy owners trust Jordan Reed this week with the injury?

Now that the NFL injury report has eliminated the designation of “probable,” the questionable tag will include players who are anywhere from 50 to 99-percent likely to play. With this new development, you will need to check here every week before locking your lineups to make sure that you don’t get burned by a player whose injury status you miscalculated. I will use a combination of Injury Science and my experience as a Doctor of Physical Therapy to give you a more precise description of whether you can trust these players on your fantasy roster.

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Julio Jones (ATL): Turf Toe

Julio Jones is listed as questionable with turf toe, and again Jones owners will be in a tough position. I have been a harsh critic of Julio Jones as a first round fantasy player, and this is exactly the reason. Jones is literally hurt 90% of the time and the other 10% of the time, he is injured. Although Jones puts up big numbers from time to time, you better have a great back-up wide receiver if Julio Jones is your starter. My guess is that it will only get worse as Jones season and career progresses, so I hope fantasy owners hear me on this. As I said last week with Mark Ingram, toe injuries are very risky and even if Jones takes the field, fantasy owners will be taking a huge risk by playing him. Turf toe is simply a nickname for a toe sprain, and generally, this injury likes to hang around for at least a few weeks. There is a chance that Jones starts this game appearing to be his normal self, but I am very doubtful that he finishes the game in the same manner. Although Mark Ingram made it through the game last week, he left the field limping at least once, and his total yardage count of 53 yards was not impressive. Those who are invested in Julio Jones this week should expect a similar sub-par performance as this injury is generally not one that heals in one week. I would not be surprised if Jones doesn’t play at all considering the known risk of this injury lingering. The Atlanta Falcons may choose to take their chances beating the Los Angeles Rams without Jones rather than going down the stretch or even the playoffs with Julio Jones battling a nagging injury.

Trevor Siemian (DEN) : Foot Sprain

Siemian would not usually warrant analysis, as I don’t think he is on many fantasy owner’s radars. However, this week may be a little different as he faces the Tennessee Titans defense which has been bad against the pass this year. Siemian has a left foot sprain which caused him to miss last week’s game, but has allowed him to resume practicing so far this week. It appears that the training staff is considering orthotics to better support his foot during game action, and all signs point to Siemian starting this week unless there are late-week setbacks. Despite this being a foot injury, which for some positions is very problematic, I would start Siemian with confidence this week. I wouldn’t look for Siemian to be very mobile or to be taking off running this game, but he should be able to throw from the pocket without impairment. If you are desperate at quarterback or looking for a cheap and low owned DFS option, I would not fade Siemian due to injury.

Jordan Reed (WAS): AC sprain

Reed is listed as questionable for this week with what was initially diagnosed as a grade three Acromioclavicular sprain. With the injury occurring on a Thursday, it makes this one a tough call as I would generally give a two to four week period for healing with this injury and Reed will barely be beyond the two-week mark on game day. The decision on whether Reed will play or not will likely be more objective that subjective, so I would be careful with listening to what Reed and Gruden may say to the media. The training staff will likely be assessing Reed’s range of motion and pain upon resistance closely to determine whether these measures are within normal limits to determine whether he plays or not. If Reed is still experiencing significant pain at certain ranges, it would be wise for him to sit out one more week to avoid re-injury. The best advice I can give on this one is if he plays, you should be able to play him with confidence. This is not an injury that should cause the coaching staff to monitor his reps or use him as a decoy. There is some risk for re-injury if that shoulder is hit directly or if Reed is planted to the ground on that shoulder, but apart from this, his production should not be affected much. This is one that I would simply wait until the official word is given by the team and just go with it.

Mark Ingram (NO): Toe and Knee Injuries

Ingram has added a knee injury to his ailments this week and similarly to last week, I do not advise playing him. Ingram will likely be a risky option for the remainder of most season long fantasy seasons, as players who play through injuries usually end up with more injuries. I worry that Ingram’s biomechanics are off considering his toe, his knee, and even his shoulder which he had off season rotator cuff surgery on. I know he has delivered with a few big performances this season, but at this point in the season, I don’t think we will see him anywhere near 100% for the remaining games. I think we can expect Ingram to miss most practices due to injury maintenance, which elevates his risk for more injuries on game day. At the very best, I would label Ingram as a high risk/high reward player; but the high reward part is doubtful in my opinion.

If I did not cover a player that you are interested in, contact me @DrPettyIRD before the game.

Good luck!