Week 6 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 6 and take a look at what fantasy managers can expect heading into Week 7 and beyond.

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 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 Jordan Mason

AC Joint Sprain: Questionable for Week 7
Mason left last Thursday’s game against the Seahawks with an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. He returned for just one carry but was unable to continue to play as he was clearly in discomfort on the sideline. The good news for Mason is that he avoided serious injury, but it’s difficult to play through this injury given that direct contact to the top of the shoulder (i.e. trying to break a tackle or landing on the shoulder) is likely to aggravate the injury. His status for Week 7 is TBD, but it’s at least encouraging that he was at practice on Monday in a non-contact jersey. If he and the medical staff decide, it is possible to play through the injury with a pain relieving injection late in the week.

Players impacted: Isaac Guerendo, Patrick Taylor

RB Jerome Ford

Hamstring Strain: Likely out multiple weeks
Ford left the Browns’ Week 6 game against the Eagles in the first half due to a hamstring injury. Speaking Monday, head coach Kevin Stefanski called Ford “week to week” with his injury, so it’d be quite surprising if Ford is able to play in Week 7. The Browns will get reinforcements in their backfield with Nick Chubb set to make his 2024 debut, but with Chubb still working his way back, it’ll likely be RBBC for Cleveland in Week 7 with Foreman and Strong getting touches.

Players impacted: Nick Chubb, D’Onta Foreman, Pierre Strong

RB Travis Etienne

Hamstring Strain: Likely out multiple weeks
Etienne has been battling injury now for multiple weeks as he’s been playing through a shoulder injury. Things got worse this past weekend when Etienne left their London game against the Bears with a hamstring injury. Speaking Monday, Doug Pederson called his RB “week to week” but the reality here is that Etienne is very likely to miss 2+ games. At the very least, he won’t be available in Week 7, but my fear with Etienne is that his play style will limit his effectiveness over the next few weeks. As a speed back who’s capable of hitting big plays, it’ll be difficult for the former Clemson back to return to form in the next few weeks given this injury. Look for him to miss multiple games.

Players impacted: Tank Bigsby, D’Ernest Johnson

RB Tyjae Spears

Hamstring Strain: Out Week 7
The commentary on Spears’ hamstring injury seems to indicate that relatively speaking, it’s minor. That said, hamstring injuries for speed backs like Spears are usually problematic. I do not expect Spears to play in Week 7, and as of now, he should be considered questionable for Week 8. When Spears does get back in the lineup, Tony Pollard will be in line to handle the bulk of the touches.

Players impacted: Tony Pollard, Julius Chestnut

WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

Concussion Protocol: Week-to-week
Harrison left their Week 6 game against the Packers early after hitting his head on a defender when he was tackled in the middle of the field. He left for a concussion evaluation and did not return, so he’s now in the league’s concussion protocol. Harrison’s Week 7 outlook is up in the air and will depend on how he progresses through the league’s five-step protocol. Fortunately for Harrison and the Cardinals, he does have an extra day to recover with Arizona playing on Monday night this week.

Players impacted: Kyler Murray, Michael Wilson, Trey McBride

WR Chris Olave

Concussion Protocol: Out for Week 7
Olave left their Week 6 game against the Bucs in the first quarter and did not return after being evaluated for a concussion. Since entering the NFL, this is now Olave’s third documented concussion, and he’s got at least one documented concussion going back to his days at Ohio State. Given his lengthy concussion history, Olave is in danger of missing multiple weeks. Regardless of what happens for Olave and the Saints in Week 8, he won’t play in Week 7 given that the Saints play the Broncos on a short week on Thursday Night Football.

Players impacted: Spencer Rattler, Rashid Shaheed, Juwan Johnson, Bub Means

WR Rashid Shaheed

Undisclosed Knee Injury: Likely Out Week 7
Shaheed picked up a knee injury towards the end of their loss against the Bucs on Sunday and is now in danger of missing time according to Saints beat writer, Nick Underhill. The speedy wide out was a DNP on Monday’s estimated practice report ahead of Thursday Night Football. On a short week, Spencer Rattler is likely to be down multiple offensive weapons and multiple offensive linemen against one of the NFL’s best defenses.

Players impacted: Spencer Rattler, Juwan Johnson, Bub Means

Rashid Shaheed is getting his knee checked for severity of injury after getting hurt in the fourth quarter. There’s some concern he could miss time but will know more after checks, per source

— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) October 14, 2024

WR Dontayvion Wicks

Right Shoulder Sprain: Questionable for Week 7
Wicks left their game against the Packers early with a shoulder injury he suffered at the end of the first half. By video, this appears to be a sprained AC joint. On Monday, multiple reports have labeled Wicks “week-to-week” following his MRI, so it sounds like this is a relatively mild injury. However, it’s difficult for a WR to high point the football overhead with a shoulder injury like this. He will certainly be limited in practice this week and should be considered questionable for next week’s contest against the Texans.

Players impacted: Jordan Love, Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs

TE Dallas Goedert

Hamstring Strain: Severity TBD
Goedert left the Eagles’ game against the Browns in the first quarter with a hamstring injury and did not return. Speaking Monday, Nick Sirianni said that the team is still gathering information on Goedert’s injury, and he did not provide an update. Either way, it’ll be an uphill battle for Goedert to play just seven days after suffering his injury, so I’d consider Goedert doubtful for Week 7, but there’s a chance this is a multi-week absence.

Players impacted: Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith

Additional Injury Notes

QB Derek Carr – Prior to the start of Week 6, it was announced that Spencer Rattler is expected to start the next 3-4 games with Carr sidelined with his oblique injury. I expect Carr to sit in Weeks 7 and 8 with a chance to return in Week 9 or 10.

QB Anthony Richardson – Was expected to start this past week’s game, but the Colts opted to roll with Joe Flacco. Per Stephen Holder, Richardson was still dealing with some minor discomfort entering this past weekend. Ultimately, I do expect Richardson to be over his hip pointer/oblique injury by the time next week gets here. We’ll see if the team continues to start Flacco or go back to Richardson in Week 7.

To avoid any potential confusion…

Richardson, per source, very much wanted to play. There was some lingering discomfort from the injury. He felt he could play through it, but the Colts decided to give it one more week.

Richardson is the starter. This is about health. Period. https://t.co/GdxLugzril

— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) October 13, 2024

RB DeVon Achane – Suffered a concussion in Week 5 prior to their Week 6 bye. While no two concussions are the same, the extra week off bodes well for his chances of suiting up in Week 7.

RB Aaron Jones – Left their Week 5 game in London with a hip injury. Prior to the bye week, head coach Kevin O’Connell said the team will continue to evaluate him on a weekly basis, so it sounds like he’s got a chance to play in Week 7, though that is not a guarantee. He was doing some light rehab work in practice on Monday.

WR Malik Nabers – Has missed the last two games with a concussion but has been reportedly ramping up activity on the side during practices. He’ll need at least an LP on Wednesday to have a chance to play in Week 7 against the Eagles.

WR Cooper Kupp – Expected to return either this week or next week from a high ankle sprain that he suffered in Week 2. This will be five weeks since the injury, which bodes well for his effectiveness in the short term. Puka Nacua is still multiple weeks away from his return from his PCL sprain.

TE TJ Hockenson – Coming out of the Week 6 bye, Hock has a chance to return in Week 7 off the PUP List and make his 2024 debut. He’s about nine months removed from his ACL surgery, so this is right on track with expectation. When Hock does return in either Week 7 or 8, he’ll need about 3-4 games to ramp up. Once on the field, he should be more effective in November and December than he is in October.