With Week 4 in the books, I am back with another edition of the injury round-up. As always, I am a physical therapist using my knowledge and experience with injuries to guide the week’s waiver wire pickups. As always, these articles come out early in the week before any practice reports, so a lot of this information is based on educated guesses at this time. Practice reports are the most important part of the week when it comes to injuries, and we like to see a full practice before placing someone in our fantasy lineups. Here are all of my takes for the week. And below we dive into a few notable players.
- Waiver Wire Advice
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Injuries to Know for your Week 5 Waiver Wire Pickups
Pat Freiermuth (TE – PIT)
It was a rough day for the Steelers, as both Freiermuth and Pickett went down with injuries. Freiermuth’s injury was a hamstring strain which was said to be “more than a tweak.” I wouldn’t be surprised if he was placed on IR for four weeks, either way, I’d prepare for at least a three-week absence from the tight end.
Kenny Pickett (QB – PIT)
Pickett suffered a bone bruise in his knee following a sack in Sunday’s contest. Luckily, he avoided major injury, but bone bruises can be a tricky injury depending on severity. Based on the buzz coming out about it, it seems to be a relatively minor bone bruise. I expect he will play next week, or miss a game but I am not projecting him to miss extended time especially with him being a QB and not requiring multiple hard cuts per game.
Mike Evans (WR – TB)
Evans suffered a hamstring “tweak” on Sunday. The Bucs have a bye in Week 5, so if it’s truly just a tweak he will be fine for Week 6, but if it lingers he could miss a week. Either way, you probably don’t want to make any waiver moves regarding the Bucs this week, but Cade Otton becomes more appealing if Evans were to miss time.
Cooper Kupp (WR – LAR)
Eligible to return from IR this week. The Rams opened his practice window, so monitor his practice reports to see if he is likely to play this week.
-Eric Hund PT, DPT
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