Welcome to the dreaded injury report. Professional football is a violent game, and your fantasy players are going to miss time because of it. Hopefully, you don’t have many names on this list.
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Evan Engram (TE – NYG)
When Evan Engram spent the entire first few series on the sidelines, it was perplexing, to say the least. As it turns out, Engram tweaked his hamstring in pregame warmups and was held out of the game. Given that this was a complete surprise injury, it’s impossible to know how much time he will miss. The reality is it really doesn’t matter because he belongs on waiver wires everywhere since the Giants barely use him when he’s healthy.
Sony Michel (RB – NE)
The Patriots rookie exited the game with what looked like a painful knee injury. Fortunately, it evidently wasn’t too serious as Sony Michel returned a short while later. He should be fine going forward.
Andy Dalton (QB – CIN)
The Red Rifle sustained a thumb injury in the Bengals loss to the Browns. Jeff Driskel finished out the game and didn’t look terrible, which is the nicest thing I can say about Jeff Driskel. If Andy Dalton can’t play, it might not be much of a downgrade. The bigger concern is whether the apparent end to the Bengals season will compel them to shut down A.J. Green.
Melvin Gordon (RB – LAC)
After inexplicably being allowed to convince coaches to let him play in a game they could’ve won with backups, Melvin Gordon took the third touch on a nonsense gadget play and got upended, taking a hit directly to his knee. Early reports indicate he may have sprained his MCL, which is typically a 2-4 week injury, depending on the severity. This would be devastating news for fantasy owners not in possession of Austin Ekeler as Gordon may miss the fantasy playoffs.
Derek Carr (QB – OAK)
Carr suffered a sprained ankle late in the team’s loss to the Ravens. He simply had the ankle taped and returned, only to take more hits behind his weak offensive line. Carr said that he would be good to go for Week 13, but it’s worth monitoring. He’s not an option outside of deep 2QB leagues.
Vance McDonald (TE – PIT)
Vance McDonald checked out late with a hip injury of unknown severity. He did return for a few snaps, which is encouraging, but given his injury history, I’m not optimistic about his chances of playing next week. Fantasy owners can just stream someone else.
Marlon Mack (RB – IND)
It was all Nyheim Hines late in the Colts comeback win over the Dolphins. Marlon Mack left the game and is currently in the concussion protocol. He’ll have a full week to get cleared. If he fails to progress through the protocol, Hines becomes interesting. I have no interest in Jordan Wilkins.
Kenyan Drake (RB – MIA)
The guy who has no business losing touches to 87-year-old Frank Gore lost touches to Frank Gore all day on Sunday. Kenyan Drake also left the game with a shoulder injury but returned shortly thereafter. He should be fine.
Jeff Heuerman (TE – DEN)
Jeff Heuerman was forced out of the Broncos home win with a back injury. It didn’t look too bad so I’d preliminarily expect him to go next week. He’s a streaming option against the Bengals terrible secondary.
Equanimeous St. Brown (WR – GB)
This was shaping up to be somewhat of a breakout game for Equanimeous St. Brown. Unfortunately, he exited early with an elbow injury. ESB is not fantasy relevant. The Packers WR corps is just Davante Adams at this point.
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Jason Katz is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jason, check out his archive, follow him @jasonkatz13, and check him out on WFAN Sports Radio every Saturday night into Sunday at around 2:20 am EST.
