Week 7 Fantasy Football Injury Recap
As The Fantasy Footballers’ lead injury analyst and sports physical therapist, I’ll be recapping the previous week’s injuries and giving a projected timeline for recovery all season long. Let’s look at the biggest injuries from Week 7 and take a look at what fantasy managers can expect heading into Week 8.
If you’re looking for more detailed injury analysis, check out JoinTheFoot.com for additional premium resources, including access to the Injury Blitz Podcast hosted by yours truly. This bonus podcast, available to all #FootClan Premier and Ultimate members, is a short, yet informative injury podcast that drops late in the week in order to provide all the injury updates you need to set your lineup each week.
RB Christian McCaffrey
Hamstring Strain: Likely to play in Week 9
CMC was in and out of Sunday’s loss to the Falcons with a mild hamstring injury. You could see him on the sideline with trainers, and he was on the exercise bike off and on, trying to stay loose. Ultimately, Kaelon Black was the lead ball carrier as CMC wasn’t 100% healthy. On Monday, it was reported that McCaffrey is dealing with a mild (Grade I) hamstring injury. Soft tissue injuries are always tricky for skill players, but fortunately, the Niners go on bye this week, so McCaffrey has a chance to return to the lineup in Week 9. Generally speaking, Grade I injuries recover in about 7-10 days.
Players impacted: Kaelon Black
RB Aaron Jones
Left Knee Injury: Questionable for Week 7
Jones has been playing through a left knee injury over the last ~month. He aggravated that knee injury Sunday against the Colts but did return. On Monday, it was confirmed by multiple beat reporters that Jones’ injury was not considered serious and that he is now “day to day.” Jones will certainly be on the injury report ahead of a huge game against the Lions, but I do ultimately expect him to play. Given the nagging injury, it wouldn’t be surprising, however, to see Jordan Mason get the bulk of the touches in Week 7.
Players impacted: Jordan Mason
Eagles RBs Saquon Barkley & Dameon Pierce
Saquon – Hamstring Aggravation + Back
Pierce – Undisclosed
Philly’s season is going from bad to worse on a weekly basis at this point. On Monday night, Barkley returned from his hamstring injury and aggravated it on his first carry of the game. You could see him trying not to open it up too much and getting out of bounds whenever possible. Throughout the game, he was on the exercise bike and seen with a heat wrap on his right thigh, and at some points, a trainer was working on his hip and back. Speaking to reporters after the game, Saquon confirmed he tweaked his back while trying to compensate for the hamstring. It remains to be seen if these injuries will keep him out, but given the state of Philly’s season, it wouldn’t make sense to force him out there in Week 8. To make matters worse, Dameon Pierce got banged up in the fourth quarter and left the field with trainers to go to the locker room. There has not been any reporting on Pierce’s injury as of Tuesday morning, so we’ll have to wait to see what they say on his health. As it stands, the only other backs on the roster are Elijah Mitchell and Jaydon Blue, who is on the practice squad. Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley both remain on IR.
Players impacted: Elijah Mitchell, Jaydon Blue
Giants RBs Cam Skattebo & Tyrone Tracy Jr.
Hamstring Strains: Questionable for Week 9
The Giants’ bye week comes at the perfect time as they get a week off in Week 8. Both RBs are dealing with hamstring injuries, but I feel more optimistic about Skattebo’s outlook than I do Tracy’s. Tracy exited in the 2nd quarter and did not return. Skatt’s injury came late in OT when he slid on his 42-yard run. Speaking on Monday and after the game, Skattebo noted that he slid out of precaution, so with the week off, I feel okay about the possibility he suits up in two weeks. As for Tracy, who is more of a speed/space back, the hamstring injury could limit him more as he tries to open it up and get out to full speed. We’ll see what their status is after the bye week. Expect to see at least Tracy on the injury report with a chance he misses Week 9.
Players impacted: Devin Singletary
WR Jaylen Waddle
Chest Injury: Questionable for Week 8
Waddle was on the injury report with a chest injury ahead of Week 7, and he aggravated that injury in the win over Arizona. The injury happened late on a reverse where he landed on the ball then the defender fell on top of him. This injury could be a rib cartilage contusion, a sternum contusion, or an SC joint injury. Clearly banged up and not 100% healthy, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Denver sit him in Week 8 given the aggravation.
Players impacted: Bo Nix, Courtland Sutton
WR Jaylin Noel
Turf Toe: Severity TBD
Noel injured his toe on a kickoff return Sunday against the Giants and did not return. He was seen after the game with a walking boot on his foot, and he now faces a likely multi-game absence with turf toe. These injuries are really difficult for WRs because of the stress on the big toe joint during the sprinting motion. With Houston now having multiple WRs who can play after trading for Boutte and Marv and getting Tank Dell back last week, they can likely be cautious with Noel. As of this writing, the severity has not been reported, but the good news is that Noel and the Texans have a bye this week. He has an outside shot to play in Week 9, but I suspect he’ll miss at least one game.
Players impacted: Marvin Harrison Jr., Kayshon Boutte, Xavier Hutchinson, Tank Dell
WR Rashid Shaheed
Knee Injury (Specifics Unknown): Questionable for Week 8
Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald said the “early returns are positive” Shaheed’s knee injury he suffered on Sunday Night Football against the Chiefs, but he didn’t provide many additional details. Based on that verbiage, Shaheed likely had imaging done on his knee Monday, which presumably didn’t show anything significant. For now, I’d consider him Questionable for next week until we get more info. At the very least, I suspect he’ll miss practice time. Worth noting, Shaheed and the Seahawks play on Monday night, so he has an extra day to try to get healthy enough to play.
Players impacted: Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp, Tory Horton
WR Jalen Brooks
Wrist Surgery: Out for the year
Brooks hasn’t been on the radar for fantasy, but I wanted to include him in this article given the state of the Arizona depth chart. After they traded Marvin Harrison Jr. to the Texans, Brooks was running a decent amount of routes as the WR2/3. He suffered a season-ending wrist injury that will require surgery this past week, so even more opportunity is opened up for ancillary pieces like Kendrick Bourne and TE Elijah Higgins behind the ‘Big 2’ in Trey McBride and Michael Wilson.
Players impacted: Jacoby Brissett, Kendrick Bourne