Week 3 was kinder than the past few weeks have been when it comes to fantasy-relevant injuries. The biggest injury being a torn ACL for Mike Williams on a non-contact play. As always, we are making educated guesses about availability this early in the week, as waivers are done before any real practice reports.
Continue to monitor practice reports throughout the week, and remember that we like to see at least 1 full practice before putting a player into a starting lineup.
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Top 15 Injuries to Know for Week 4 Waiver Wire (2023 Fantasy Football)
Week 3 Injuries
Mike Williams (WR – LAC)
Williams suffered a season-ending ACL tear on Sunday. Expect Josh Palmer to directly replace his snaps, but Quentin Johnston may come on strong with his likely increased role.
Waiver considerations: Josh Palmer or Quentin Johnston
Carr suffered an AC joint sprain during Sunday’s game while taking a sack. Due to the injury being on his throwing shoulder, it is very likely that he will miss at least next week. Trying to throw a football with an AC sprain is very painful, so monitor his practice over the next couple of weeks to gauge the severity
Waiver considerations: Jameis Winston in two QB leagues or even as a decent weekly streamer for good matchups.
Bateman is dealing with a hamstring strain that occurred towards the end of Sunday’s game and was seen limping to the locker room. He says that the strain was minor, but we have seen players who have “minor” hamstring strains miss multiple weeks. I expect he will miss at least a week but plan for the possibility of a two to three week absence as well.
Waiver considerations: OBJ if he was dropped. Nelson Agholor in deep leagues
Suffered a rib injury at the end of the game on Thursday. While I expect he will likely be healthy enough to play next week, the 49ers might be extra cautious with him due to the matchup against the 49ers.
Waiver considerations: Ray-Ray McCloud or Ronnie Bell in very deep leagues, especially if Aiyuk sits as well.
Watson was trending towards playing last week but suffered what appeared to be a setback late last week. He did not practice on Monday, so assume he is out for Thursday’s game.
Waiver considerations: Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Luke Musgrave
Concussions
As I always say with concussions, the average time in concussion protocol is seven days, so we can assume players will miss one week, with a small percentage returning without missing a game.
Brian Hoyer will not be fantasy-relevant if Jimmy G misses time.
This would leave Justice Hill (if active), Kenyan Drake and Melvin Gordon in what would probably be a pretty ugly committee for fantasy purposes.
Slight boost to Thielen and DJ Chark if he misses time.
Possibly Returning This Week
I’m giving Barkley a 50% chance to return this week after the high ankle sprain last week. If he sits, Breida is still a decent spot start.
Since he was a game-time decision on Thursday, I think it’s safe to assume that he will play this week after the long rest.
If Beckham has a typical low ankle sprain, I expect that he will suit up this week, although the fact that he did not practice at all last week is concerning. Could be a decent stash if he plays, especially if Bateman misses time.
Missed last week due to a concussion. I expect him to play next week.
Missed last week due to a concussion. I expect him to play next week.
While there are likely no waiver considerations here due to Josh Kelley being a dud the past two weeks, monitor Ekeler’s practice reports to see if he’s trending toward playing. I give him a 40% chance to play, but if he doesn’t play, the Chargers have a bye in Week 5.
We have seen the Packers be cautious with hamstring injuries, so I expect Jones to sit, especially due to the game being on Thursday. He was a limited participant in practice on Monday. AJ Dillon will take most of the work if he doesn’t play.
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