Fantasy Football: Week 7 Injury Recap
Sony Michel
Left MCL sprain: Likely out multiple weeks
Michel’s knee injury looked much worse than it actually may be. He got his leg caught under a defender as he was being tackled and rolled to the side, causing his knee to be torqued awkwardly. Michel was carted to the locker room and didn’t return. MRI results came out Monday, and per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, the injury is “not expected to be serious.” The specifics of the injury are unknown at this time, but it’s being reported this is an MCL sprain. The mechanism looked consistent with either an MCL sprain and/or a meniscus injury, so this makes sense. It’s fortunate news for Michel owners, but the injury could have been much worse. His injury won’t be season-ending, but you can expect Michel to be out multiple weeks. Look for updates this week.
Other players impacted: James White, Kenjon Barner
Albert Wilson
Hip labral tear: out several weeks, potentially on IR
Albert Wilson came out of nowhere last week when Brock Osweiler started in place of the injured Ryan Tannehill. However, those hoping for an Albert Wilson breakout may have to wait until next year. Wilson tore the labrum in his hip on Sunday in the team’s loss to the Lions, when he fell awkwardly to the ground. He is going to see a hip specialist in order to determine the optimal treatment for his injury. He has two options – rehab the hip and attempt to come back in a month or so, or undergo surgery to repair the labrum and go on injured reserve. The choice to undergo surgery or not usually depends on the location of the tear and the degree to which the athlete experiences instability. Expect a decision to be made in the next few days. Regardless, fantasy football owners will be without Albert Wilson for multiple weeks.
Other players impacted: Kenny Stills, Brock Osweiler, Danny Amendola, Mike Gesicki
Kenny Stills
Strained groin: week-to-week
Kenny Stills injured his groin on the final drive of the game and didn’t return. Like hamstring strains, groin strains are very difficult to play through and have the potential to be multi-week injuries. They’re a bit different than hamstring strains because this injury typically is stressed with quick changes of direction, such as when a receiver plants his foot in the ground and tries to move laterally. As with most soft tissue injuries, the biggest risk of aggravation is when the athlete returns to the field quickly after the injury happens. With the Dolphins playing on a short week, Stills has been ruled out for Thursday Night Football, which is no surprise.
Other players impacted: DeVante Parker, Brock Osweiler, Danny Amendola, Mike Gesicki
Josh Rosen
Sprained toe on left foot: day-to-day
The Cardinals first-round pick in the NFL Draft got injured on the team’s final drive of the game last Thursday. He was seen after the game in a walking boot due to a toe injury on his left foot. The specifics as to which toe is involved is unclear at this time. However, the Cardinals’ coaching staff and front office indicated that Rosen should be fine for their Week 8 contest. He’s out of the walking boot, but he didn’t practice on Monday. So long as Rosen starts practicing on Wednesday, he should be in line to start this week.
Other players impacted: Christian Kirk, Larry Fitzgerald, Sam Bradford
Ricky Seals-Jones
Bruised right forearm: day-to-day
The Cardinals’ tight end took a helmet to his right forearm during Thursday Night Football. He immediately clutched for his forearm in high levels of pain and the initial concern was for a fracture. After the game, he spoke to reporters and said that he’s dealing with just a bruise. This suggests that x-rays were taken, which presumably came back negative. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Seals-Jones on the Cardinals’ injury report this week.
Other players impacted: Jermaine Gresham, Christian Kirk, Larry Fitzgerald
Royce Freeman
Ankle sprain: week-to-week
Royce Freeman got banged up on Thursday Night Football last week with a sprained ankle late in the game. His injury sort of flew under the radar, as the Broncos debacle of the Cardinals stole the show. Freeman suffered a high ankle sprain and had an MRI on his injured ankle. Fortunately, his imaging came back without structural damage. There’s optimism out of Denver that Freeman could go as early as this week, but that remains to be seen. Watch the Denver practice reports this week.
Other players impacted: Phillip Lindsay, Devontae Booker
Keke Coutee
Strained hamstring: week-to-week
The impressive rookie out of Texas Tech left Week 7 with a hamstring strain and didn’t return. It’s worth noting that Coutee missed three games earlier in the season with a hamstring injury, which further proves that these hamstring strains have the tendency to linger and recur when the athlete returns to the field. He had an MRI on his injured hamstring on Monday, which showed no serious signs of a major tear, so fantasy football owners should consider his injury a week to week injury. All signs point to Coutee being ruled out for Thursday Night Football against the Dolphins, so owners will likely be without him for at least one week.
Other players impacted: DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, Deshaun Watson
LeSean McCoy
Concussion: day-to-day
LeSean McCoy left Week 7 early with a concussion and didn’t return. He took a carry to the sideline and got his legs taken out in the process, hitting his head on the turf in the process. On the same play, McCoy also appeared to injure his right ankle, but the Bills haven’t said much about the ankle thus far. I won’t be surprised to see McCoy listed on the injury report with both the concussion and the ankle injuries. He now enters the league’s concussion protocol and has until this weekend to be cleared for the team’s Week 8 matchup against the Patriots.
Other players impacted: Chris Ivory, Marcus Murphy
Matt Breida
Aggravated ankle sprain: week-to-week
Matt Breida has been battling a high ankle sprain for the past two weeks, and he reaggravated his ankle sprain on Sunday. When speaking to the media yesterday, Breida admitted that he was playing at less than 100%, but this was already obvious. He also admitted, “I tried to keep on playing. I have to be smart and not hurt my team at the same time. If I can’t go out there and go 100%, I have to let the guys that can do it.” Expect Breida to miss at least one game with Raheem Mostert and Alfred Morris picking up the slack for the Niners out of the backfield.
Other players impacted: Raheem Mostert, Alfred Morris
Bilal Powell
Neck injury (diagnosis unclear): week-to-week
Powell exited Week 7 early with a neck injury and was ruled out shortly after. In the sport of football, neck injuries have the potential to be season-ending, so I’m anxiously awaiting more news regarding Powell’s status. If this is a fracture or a disc injury, it’s possible Powell finds himself on injured reserve. Look for more updates over the next few days.
Other players impacted: Isaiah Crowell, Trenton Cannon
Melvin Gordon
Hamstring strain: week-to-week
If you own Melvin Gordon in fantasy football, I hope you got him out of your lineup before the London game kicked off on Sunday because as you know, he didn’t play. He popped up on the injury report Friday with a hamstring injury and ended up being listed as questionable. On Sunday morning, he tested the hamstring pregame but was unable to go. This was a smart move by the Chargers’ training staff, as the team goes on bye in Week 8. It’s possible the team was playing it safe with their star running back heading into the bye, but as we’ve seen with guys like Leonard Fournette and Dalvin Cook, hamstring injuries cannot be taken for granted. Look for more updates from the Chargers coming out of the bye in Week 9.
Other players impacted: Austin Ekeler, Justin Jackson
Rob Gronkowski
Back injury (diagnosis unknown): week-to-week
This was a shock to fantasy owners on Saturday afternoon, but Rob Gronkowski didn’t play in the team’s Sunday game against the Bears. News broke that he didn’t travel with the team to Chicago because of a back injury, but the diagnosis is unclear at this time. It’s worth noting that Gronkowski has a history of multiple back surgeries in his injury history, so this is certainly a situation to monitor. Reports indicate that Gronk could play in Week 8, so fantasy football owners are going to need to rely on the practice reports this week.
Other players impacted: Chris Hogan, Tom Brady, Jacob Hollister, Dwayne Allen
Geoff Swaim
Right knee injury (diagnosis unknown): out multiple weeks
Swaim got injured during the team’s loss to the Redskins when he took a hit with the defender’s helmet to his right knee. His leg was planted on the ground, and the defender’s helmet caused Swaim’s knee to buckle inwards. At the least, it looks like an MCL sprain for Swaim, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the MRI showing an ACL injury as well. This is a ‘wait and see’ situation for now, but it looks like Swaim is going to miss some time.
Other players impacted: Blake Jarwin, Dalton Schultz