The following will be a quick-hitting recall of last week’s previous injuries with any tidbits of news or assessment that can be gleaned during the early stages of the week. This article exists to cover only new injuries as most weeks some player injuries end up slipping through the cracks or are just relevant enough to crop up in a meaningful way down the road. Later this week the Injury Report will be published that will include all player injuries new and old.
Julio Jones - Hamstrings
Jones left the game with a reaggravation of the hamstring injury. This is bad. The average amount of missed time after a reinjury to this kind of issue is 40 days. Look no further than Adam Thielen ini 2019 for an example of what might happen to Julio. Now, he’s a superior athlete but don’t be surprised if he has a short stint on the IR to get himself healthy. After all, the amount of time missed due to a recurrent hamstring strain is 25 days.
Nick Chubb - Knee
Chubb got rolled up on and exited Week 4 with a knee injury. The Browns are calling this a knee injury and so based on that report along with the video we’re going to assume MCL sprain. We’ll monitor this as the week progresses and after his MRI but this could cost him 2-3 weeks. Last year we saw Austin Hooper miss three games due to this injury.
Update: He’s officially been placed on IR. Expect this to knock Chubb out for 4-6 weeks.
Austin Ekeler - Hamstring/knee
This injury looked pretty nasty on video and concerns heightened when Ekeler was spotted sporting a brace and using crutches. If this “brace” was an immobilizer it means the team docs didn’t want the knee to move in any unnecessary direction. This is likely just a precaution but is worrisome for the integrity of the ligaments and structures around the knee like the MCL and PCL (in addition to the hamstrings). The mechanism looks similar to George Kittle injury earlier this year meaning a bone bruise is also possible. Since the reports are already that Ekeler will miss “multiple weeks’ it seems this might be a hodgepodge of injuries. A sneaky waiver wire add is Justin Jackson seeing as Josh Kelley is likely already taken in your leagues. Make sure you read Tom Brolley’s waiver wire article that drops Tuesday for more details.
Update: Ekeler is on the IR and could be out for 4-6 weeks similarly to Chubb.
Kenyan Drake - Chest/ribs
Drake got absolutely lit up on Sunday afternoon and was being examined by trainers. He walked off the field under his own power but the concern is that he may have caused cartilage and/or rib damage. The best-case scenario is he simply had the wind knocked out of him. Worst case is he has cracked ribs a la Cam Akers.
Update: It seems the best case scenario has occurred and Drake just had the wind knocked out of him.
Chris Carson - Concussion
Carson did pass protocol. But as we saw with Russell Gage players are still at an elevated risk for a concussion after being in protocol.
Dalvin Cook - Unknown
Cook left the game briefly after being bounced around like a pinball. He has a history of shoulder dislocations and a sprain of the SC joint. It’s something to monitor.
Mike Evans - Toe and/or high ankle sprain
Evans was very clearly hobbled after his foot and toe were crushed into the turf awkwardly on Sunday. He got tackled and showed a classic mechanism of injury of turf toe with a side of high ankle sprain. Some reports are assuming this is an ankle injury which is very possible but we’ll wait for the injury report to confirm. He finished the game and had a great performance but his status will be one to monitor as the week progresses.
Josh Allen - Shoulder/labrum non-throwing arm
Allen was tackled and landed on his shoulder which implicates a shoulder instability event (also known as a subluxation) which can damage the labrum. He returned with a sleeve/brace to the shoulder which all but confirmed the issue. It’ll be interesting to see what the Bills do with him this week as it’s his non-throwing shoulder that was injured and he still finished the game. Last year Mitch Trubisky missed one game last year with a similar injury.
Summary
Make sure to check back in with me for the Week 5 Injury Preview that will be an exhaustive and comprehensive analysis.
