NFL Injury Updates & Fantasy Football Impact (Week 11)

Turkey Day is on tap, and Week 11 provided another action-packed weekend of football as divisional standings continue to take shape. There were numerous exciting finishes across the league, with some upset victories along the way. Additionally, the injury bug made its unwelcome return in brutal fashion, potentially altering the course of many teams for the remainder of the season. We’ll touch on those and the resulting fallout here.

NFL Injury Updates & Fantasy Football Impact

Joe Burrow (QB – CIN)

There was not one, but two devastating season-ending injuries in this past Thursday’s bout between the Bengals and the Ravens. While both were awful, the most impactful was certainly for Cincinnati, who lost franchise QB Joe Burrow to a season-ending wrist injury. He was apparently hurt entering the affair (another story for another day), then Burrow was seen wincing in pain after throwing a pass in the first half that ultimately sidelined him for the rest of the game. It was later announced that he would need wrist surgery, which will cost him the remainder of the 2023 NFL campaign.

Fantasy Impact: Burrow’s absence will clearly have dire consequences for both the Bengals as an organization and for the team’s fantasy skill players moving forward. Backup QB Jake Browning will not be able to sustain fantasy value out of the group, relegating the prospects of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Joe Mixon substantially. It is debatable whether the latter two will even warrant starting consideration going forward, although Chase should be able to at least continue providing serviceable outputs based on talent alone. Just a truly bad situation for everyone involved.

Mark Andrews (TE – BAL)

On the other side of the ball, Baltimore suffered an equally brutal loss as star tight end Mark Andrews endured both a fibula and ankle ligament injury in Thursday night’s victory over the Bengals. He is fully expected to miss the remainder of the season and will likely be placed on IR in the coming days.

Fantasy Impact: At a position as barren as tight end is in fantasy football, losing Andrews is, simply put, an unmitigated disaster for his managers. It is certain that his production can not be replaced by any given TE on a league’s waiver wire, as there are very few capable options within the landscape. In Baltimore, backup TE Isaiah Likely should step in as the next man up and may have occasional spike weeks here and there, but he has little chance of maintaining true consistency when it comes to scoring points as a fantasy producer.

De’Von Achane (RB – MIA)

Fantasy managers were likely filled with joy prior to Week 11’s kickoff as eye-popping rookie RB De’Von Achane was set to return to the Dolphins’ lineup following a lengthy injury absence. Unfortunately, both that joy and Achane’s return was short lived after he landed on the the knee he had previously injured early in the battle with Las Vegas. Achane departed and finished his return with five scrimmage yards on two touches.

Fantasy Impact: The good news for Achane is that he was apparently cleared to return to the game, but the Dolphins’ coaching and medical staff opted to exercise caution and hold him out. The bad news for his managers is that his absence likely put them in a huge hole in their matchups. Achane’s practice status will need to be closely monitored leading up to Miami’s Week 12 divisional tilt with the Jets, particularly because they square off in a rare Friday afternoon affair this week. If Achane is held out this week, RB Raheem Mostert will likely step back into a three-down back role.

Cooper Kupp (WR – LAR)

This has been a pretty unlucky season for Cooper Kupp in terms of injury. In Week 11 against Seattle, he got rolled up on in the first half and was forced to exit with an ankle injury. His day concluded with one catch for just 11 yards.

Fantasy Impact: Kupp has struggled with leg injuries through the first 11 weeks of the season. This most recent one resulted in him being quickly declared out for the remainder of the game against the Seahawks. In his stead, rookie WR Puka Nacua stepped up again as the team’s top option (5-70-1) and he will need to continue doing so if Kupp misses more time. Kupp’s practice status needs to be closely monitored leading up to the Rams’ Week 12 showing against Arizona.

Additional Notes:

Packers’ RB Aaron Jones had to be carted off following a knee injury he suffered against the Chargers on Sunday. The good news is that he seems to have avoided the worst-case scenario as his ACL is reportedly intact, but he is almost guaranteed to miss some time going forward.
Seahawks’ RB Kenneth Walker went down with an oblique injury and did not return against the Rams on Sunday. He was seen on the sideline in street clothes and this could be an injury that costs him some additional time.