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 8 and take a look at what fantasy managers can expect heading into Week 9 and beyond.
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Calvin Ridley
Left Midfoot Sprain: Out at least two weeks
Ridley picked up the injury on Thursday Night Football against the Panthers when he got his left foot caught under the tackling defender. X-rays at the time of injury came back clean, which essentially means this is a stable injury that likely won’t require surgery. However, even a mild Lisfranc injury is concerning and can be a tricky rehab. There’s optimism that Ridley can return after the team’s Week 10 bye, but it’s too early to tell. He’ll miss this week against the Broncos.
Players impacted: Julio Jones, Matt Ryan, Russell Gage, Hayden Hurst
Tevin Coleman
Knee Sprain: Out multiple weeks
Coleman spent the last month and a half on injured reserve, and in his first game back for the 49ers this past Sunday, Coleman aggravated the same injury that he picked up in Week 2 and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. Details regarding the long term outlook here for Coleman aren’t known just yet, but Coleman was listed as a DNP in practice on Monday and is unlikely to play on Thursday night against Green Bay in Week 9. He is likely to miss multiple weeks.
Players impacted: JaMycal Hasty, Jerick McKinnon
George Kittle
Fractured Foot: Out 6-8 weeks
Kittle injured his foot in the second half and didn’t return, limping off the sideline. X-rays were reportedly negative initially, but an MRI on Monday revealed a broken bone in Kittle’s foot. He’s now expected to miss up to eight weeks and be placed on injured reserve, essentially ending his fantasy football season. There’s a chance Kittle could return to the lineup if the 49ers are able to make the playoffs.
Players impacted: Nick Mullens, Brandon Aiyuk, Ross Dwelley
Jimmy Garoppolo
Aggravated High Ankle Sprain: Out six weeks
Jimmy G aggravated his high ankle sprain after he limped off the field and into the locker room this past Sunday against Seattle. Garoppolo originally picked up the high ankle sprain in Week 2 against the Jets then returned after missing two weeks, but he never really looked 100%. Now, he’s projected to miss a month and a half to rehab his ankle. Expect Garoppolo to go on injured reserve.
Players impacted: Nick Mullens, Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Jordan Reed, Ross Dwelley
Darrell Henderson
Hip/Thigh Injury (Diagnosis Unknown): Week to week
Henderson was listed on the Rams’ injury report last week but it was never considered a serious issue. However, he exited early yesterday after aggravating this same injury. With the Rams on bye in Week 9, I suspect that Henderson won’t miss any game time, but we’ll need to monitor the practice reports for L.A. closely next week.
Players impacted: Malcolm Brown, Cam Akers
Cooper Kupp
Right Wrist Injury (Diagnosis Unknown): Situation to monitor
Kupp fell on an outstretched arm on Sunday, forcing his right wrist to hyperextend. Hopefully, this is just a minor sprain that Kupp can play through without limitation, but his status will be extremely important to monitor over the next several days. The worry here is for a potential scaphoid fracture, which a bone at the base of the wrist. This bone, when broken, often takes longer to heal due to the poor blood supply in this region. If broken, Kupp would miss a significant amount of time. With the Rams on bye in Week 9, we may not get news regarding Kupp until next week.
Another injury note – #Rams WR Cooper Kupp is a name to watch today. Fell on his wrist yesterday and despite returning to the game, there is potential concern for a scaphoid fracture. X-rays often miss this diagnosis so expect an MRI in the next day or two.
— Matthew Betz (@TheFantasyPT) November 2, 2020
Players impacted: Robert Woods, Josh Reynolds, Jared Goff
Kenny Golladay
Hip Injury (Diagnosis Unknown): Out Week 9
Golladay exited Week 8 early with a non-contact hip injury, which appeared to be a muscle strain. Additional evaluation and imaging on Monday revealed that the injury is going to sideline him at least for Week 9, but the Lions are a team that doesn’t provide a ton of injury details, so he’s a difficult player to project moving forward. Assuming this is a minor muscle strain, the projected recovery timeline would be 1-3 weeks.
Players impacted: Marvin Jones, Kenny Golladay, Matthew Stafford, T.J. Hockenson
T.Y. Hilton
Groin Strain: Likely out Week 9
Hilton exited early with a groin injury and didn’t return. While the injury appeared to be relatively minor, Hilton is still expected to sit for at least one week, with his ideal recovery timeline ranging somewhere in the 1-3 week range. It’s possible Hilton misses multiple games.
Players impacted: Phillip Rivers, Trey Burton, Zach Pascal, Marcus Johnson
Sam Darnold
Right Shoulder AC Joint Sprain: Week to week
Darnold aggravated his AC joint injury that he originally picked up in Week 4 against the Broncos on Thursday Night Football. After Week 4, Darnold missed two games before returning to the lineup. This past week, he aggravated that same injury but is now expected to try to play through the pain. A throwing athlete with a recurring AC joint injury is likely to take longer than one week to heal, so Darnold will certainly be playing at less than 100% in Week 9 on Monday Night Football against the Patriots.
#Jets QB Sam Darnold underwent a precautionary MRI on his right shoulder and source said it showed a reaggravation but he will attempt to manage it and work through it. The extra day for MNF should help, as well
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 3, 2020
Players impacted: Denzel Mims, Braxton Berrios, Jamison Crowder, Joe Flacco
Adam Humphries
Concussion: Week to week
Humphries took a scary hit to the head at the end of the first half and went into what we refer to as “posturing” in the medical field after a blow to the head. More on that here. Essentially that means bad news for Humphries’ Week 9 availability, as I suspect he will miss. He’s now in concussion protocol.
Players impacted: Corey Davis, Ryan Tannehill, A.J. Brown
Jonathan Taylor
Ankle Injury (Diagnosis Unknown): Day to day
Colts head coach, Frank Reich, told the media on Monday that his rookie RB is dealing with “a little bit” of an ankle injury. I have yet to see details regarding this injury, so it’s difficult to project Taylor’s status moving forward, but it is worth noting, many analysts have been questioning Taylor’s vision, burst, and explosiveness so far this season. The ankle could potentially be playing a role here. Worth noting, he played just 34% of the snaps in Week 8, his lowest of the 2020 season.
Players impacted: Jordan Wilkins, Nyheim Hines
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