As usual, injuries had a big impact on fantasy football lineups last week. Our Fantasy Football Injury Rundown goes though all the fantasy-relevant injuries you need to be aware of.
Here are the key fantasy-relevant injury situations we’ll be monitoring. Both for this week’s action and moving forward. Also, be sure to check out our Week 9 waiver wire and FAAB recommendations.
Cooper Kupp (WR) Los Angeles Rams – The entire fantasy community can breathe a sigh of relief. Kupp appears to have avoided serious damage to his ankle. Sean McVay called his star wideout “day-to-day,” which is very good news considering the initial look of the injury. We’ll monitor Kupp’s practice status all week and update it in Discord.
Keenan Allen (WR) Los Angeles Chargers – Allen hurt his hamstring back in Week 1 and didn’t return until Week 7. He was only in on 32% of LA’s snaps in that game. What is more concerning is that Allen has the Week 8 bye to get healthy. Yet, the aging veteran was absent from practice Monday. The Chargers desperately need Allen back in the lineups with Mike Williams expected to miss a month. This will be one of the most important injuries to monitor ahead of Week 9.
DK Metcalf (WR) Seattle Seahawks – In a shocker, Metcalf not only played in Week 8 but found the end zone. After reports dropped that Metcalf had hurt his patellar tendon, he was expected to miss 1-3 weeks. Instead, he recovered in days and was back on the field. At this point, Metcalf might be less than 100% but there’s no reason to think he won’t be back to face the Cardinals on Sunday.
Rashod Bateman (WR) Baltimore Ravens – After re-injuring his foot, Bateman will be sidelined for multiple weeks. Devin Duvernay will now act as Baltimore’s No. 1 wideout. Bateman is not on Injured Reserve. Also, that puts fantasy managers in a bind. With that, teams struggling through early bye weeks and playoff contention may have to consider cutting Bateman.
Mark Andrews (TE) Baltimore Ravens – Andrews is still dealing with a knee injury and added a shoulder ailment to his troubles last week. The team doesn’t seem overly concerned but if Andrews is limited, Isaiah Likely becomes an interesting streaming option to consider.
Gus Edwards (RB) Baltimore Ravens – Yet another injured Raven. Running back Gus Edwards is dealing with a sore hamstring and has been listed as questionable. The soft-tissue injury is considered minor, but hamstring injuries are notoriously easy to reoccur. For now, we tentatively expect Edwards to suit up this week.
D’Andre Swift (RB) Detroit Lions – Swift received just 15.2% of Detroit’s rushes in his first game back. The third-year back is still working his way back from ankle and shoulder ailments and will be eased back into action. However, it might take a few games for Swift to approach the kind of workload he saw in Week 1. Until then, consider Swift and Jamaal Williams solid weekly RB2s.
Chuba Hubbard (RB) Carolina Panthers – Hubbard missed Week 8 with an ankle injury. This led to D’Onta Foreman‘s huge outing. Hubbard says he’ll be back in Week 9 which should result in more of a split backfield. Both Panters’ backs are flex worthy.
Irv Smith (TE) Minnesota Vikings – An ankle injury will sideline Smith for the next 8-10 weeks. This, and the club’s trade for T.J. Hockenson, effectively ends Smith’s fantasy season.
Nico Collins (WR) Houston Texans – Houston hosts Philadelphia on Thursday. That means that Collins (groin) has next to zero shot at playing in Week 9. Considering how bad Houston’s offense has looked, fantasy managers strapped for roster flexibility can probably just send Collins to the waiver wire.
