The following players have already been ruled out for Week 8 as of Friday evening so get them out of your lineup!
Julian Edelman
Deebo Samuel
Chris Godwin
Jeff Wilson Jr.
Joe Mixon
Austin Hooper
Jordan Akins
Sammy Watkins
N'Keal Harry
Michael Thomas
Breshad Perriman
Alshon Jeffery
Miles Sanders
Below is a no-nonsense quick-hitting analysis of fantasy-relevant player injuries that could impact performance on game day. For any questions related to this article such as “should I drop [player A] for [player B]?” please refer to the staff’s weekly projections. In reality, there isn’t much information available yet; however, definitely bookmark this as it will be updated and fleshed out through Sunday morning. This second version includes players who are on the injury report and/or have a notable status prior to Week 8.
This preview is often published prior to Friday practice reports. So, the following general rules apply for big shake ups on the weekend.
*Players who are downgraded from full or even partial practice to “Did Not Practice” on Friday or Saturday, for any medical reason, are a long shot to play. Typically you’ll see teams say these players are a “game time decision” which is code for “they ain’t playing”.
*Players who have a concussion have up until Saturday night/Sunday morning to clear the protocol in time to play.
*Unless otherwise denoted as “doubtful” or listed above as “out” assume all players below are either questionable or have been removed from the report altogether.
*If no “final update” is available, the player has either been officially ruled out or no news is good news.
The Seattle Backfield
Chris Carson is (coincidentally) dealing with the same foot injury as Mixon who will miss at least two games. Carson hasn’t practiced all week and is a long, long shot to play on Sunday despite Pete Carroll doing his classic Pete Carroll thing where he’s overly optimistic about players’ availability.
Travis Homer is ironically the player who I thought had the best chance at suiting up on Sunday but now it looks more bleak. Like we saw with A.J. Brown earlier this year and Damien Williams in 2019, knee bruises are extremely painful and it’s not likely Homer will go from two DNP’s in a row to a full practice and a go on Sunday without restrictions. If he’s active, I expect his effectiveness to be zapped. Would you want a 300 lb man made of 85% muscle slamming your already bruised up knee into the turf?
Carlos Hyde is the most likely of these three to suit up given the fact that the hamstring wasn’t believed to be serious in the first place. However, his 30-year-old body will have to hold up in a full-time role and I’m not confident he can. Two risk factors for a recurrent hamstring strain (besides a history of hamstring strains in general) are age and massive workload shifts. Hyde taking lead-back duties would be considered a big workload spike which only increases his volatility at the position. It might be enticing to use Hyde in DFS but I’m not touching him in cash.
The bottom line: To steal a line from Wes Huber (who you should all be following on Twitter), the bottom line is that 1. Since 2016, just 19/45 Seattle skill players who have ended the week with a “Q” tag actually ended up being active on game day. That tells us two things, the first being that Carroll and the medical staff simply don’t place a lot of players on the injury report in general compared to say, New England. The Pats have approximately 150 instances since 2016 when skill players were on the final injury report as “Q”. The second thing to note with these numbers is that when players in Seattle are on the report, there’s only about a 42% chance they play. Now, I’m no math-magician but those numbers tell me that in theory, it’s highly unlikely even two of these backs will be active. Of course the counter point here is that there’s no way the Seahawks will play a game with only two active backs, let alone one who is just a rookie in DeeJay Dallas. Meaning of course that my fancy math since 2016 can be thrown out the window since there’s a chance Carroll just wants to rest all of them out of precaution
So, the answer, of course is, yes.
Listen, I don’t have all the answers and my goal is simply to present you with all of the facts and information to sort out all of the permutations of possible outcomes. As of now, Carson seems unlikely to play, Homer would have to play through significant pain, and the 30-year-old Carlos Hyde will need to be able to run a straight line with the rehab team before being released. This is simply a headache of a backfield I’m avoiding on Sunday. If you’re desperate, the reality is that whichever of these guys gets in at least a limited practice on Friday is the most likely to play and if Seattle brings up a practice squad player or out of nowhere brings back Rashaad Penny, there’s a good chance at least two of them sit.
Final Update: Hyde is officially doubtful, Carson is doubtful by my estimation, and Homer is trending in the direction of playing according to Carroll. As of Friday night, their final practice report was not posted. Check back for it again on Saturday afternoon.
Dalvin Cook - Groin
The median time frames for players to return to the field are as follows: 13 days to become pain free, 17 days to partially practice, 18 days to return to full practice. Now, the average amount of missed time is 14 days. Cook has surpassed just about all of those benchmarks and has been practicing this week. The Vikings have already said he’ll be good to go so start him with a touch of volatility this week.
Aaron Jones - Calf
The average return to play time for NFL players with calf strains is 17 days with a standard deviation of 15 days. Jones hasn’t practiced this week so expect him to return in Week 9 given the Packers’ conservative nature. Of course there’s still about a 10-20% chance he plays, but I would be surprised.
Miles Sanders - Knee
This is likely a meniscus issue that isn’t severe enough for a scope to clean it up but just swollen and painful enough to hold him out until after the bye. Make sure you’ve given Boston Scott enough practice reps this week. Maybe move him into the flex spot for a spark on offense.
Joe Mixon - Foot
He hasn’t practiced in two weeks now and is unlikely to go Sunday. As I mentioned on Twitter, the process wasn’t wrong on Mixon. He has a midfoot sprain that’s probably a grade II in nature. This means the average return to sport time is 36 days. The standard deviation makes it so the full window of his return begins at 10 days and ends at 72 days. The truth is that he’ll likely be back closer to the average. In case you’re wondering yes- that means he might not be back by Week 10 after the bye. It’s not a slam dunk. So, if you rostered Giovani The Stache Bernard, do not drop him unless you absolutely must.
Michael Thomas - Ankle/Hamstring
Let me be honest with you: I don’t think these injuries are the only things holding Thomas out of practice until today. He was limited today which is a good sign, but at this point, the situation is impossible to predict. If he’s active, he’s impossible for me to trust in cash games outside of a contrarian play.
Allen Robinson - Concussion
A-Rob suffered what appeared to be a concussion before it was confirmed by Schefty. He’s in the protocol this week and has yet to practice. This study analyzed over 12 years of concussions in the NFL found that from 2002-2007 (before a protocol or any sort of real action to reduce concussions) about 75% of players who suffered a concussion returned to play within 7 days. Their chances are obviously better if they never had a concussion before. The hope is since this is A-Rob’s first documented concussion that he can return by game day but he’ll need to pass protocol by Sunday morning.
Phillip Lindsay - Concussion
I hate to make it seem like all concussions are the same (they’re not) but unfortunately the NFL treats them as such so the same logic that applies to Robinson applies to Lindsay. The change in context here is that Lindsay has one extra day to pass protocol. This is his first documented concussion and he has already been a limited participant in practice which is a good sign. Just remember that this is not a linear process and he can still be downgraded if symptoms re-emerge.
Andy Dalton - Concussion- Doubtful
Dalton suffered a concussion last week and it looked like he actually lost consciousness for a second. That’s a predictor for worse outcomes and at this point I would be surprised if he passes protocol by Sunday…but I’ve seen crazier things.
Austin Hooper - Appendix
Expect Hooper to be back after the bye as this study found that the median return to play time was 21 days. As long as the incision is healed and his vitals are stable along with no added complications like an infection, Hooper should be back sooner rather than later.
Mark Ingram - Ankle- Doubtful
Ingram has a high-ankle sprain and it’s extremely unlikely he practices and plays on Sunday. Don’t expect that he’s back after this week either unless he makes significant strides in practice next week.
Cordarrelle Patterson - Quad
Quad strains are no joke and Patterson hasn’t practiced yet this week. The hope is that since he’s basically the backup running back that they’re just giving him rest. There’s a chance he gets in a limited (or even full) session on Friday which would be good news. Otherwise, it might be another opportunity for David Montgomery to let fantasy managers down…again.
Final Update: Was limited on Friday and has a chance to play. Unfortunately there isn’t much data on what Chicago does when a player is limited on Friday. But I mean, does it really matter for this backfield?
Jarvis Landry - Ribs/Hip, Kareem Hunt - Ribs
These guys have been battling injuries most of the year and I don’t expect their presence on the report to be anything major.
Tim Patrick - Hamstring
He has yet to practice this week and at this point will need a limited practice for any kind of confidence in him.
Final Update: He didn’t practice at all this week and is highly unlikely to play. The average missed time for these injuries is 13 missed days. There is about a 10% chance Denver held him all week out of precaution due to how thin they are on offense but that’s not the primary projection for him this week.
Adrian Peterson - Abdomen
This is, in the year 2020, actually a headline. Not because Peterson is turning heads but because he was actually downgraded from Wednesday to Thursday. This means he needs to practice in some capacity on Friday to make up for it. The reality here is that even if Peterson goes Sunday, he could be limited so D’Andre Swift could bust down the doors at any point now.
Final Update: Full practice Friday.
Sammy Watkins - Hamstring
The average amount of missed time for a strain is 13 days and more for older players with a history of this. No practice yet this week for Watkins so we’ probably won’t see him.
Bryan Edwards - Foot/Ankle
This mysterious ailment (that feels and acts like a high ankle sprain) is on it’s 5th week and this is the first time Edwards has practiced since the week leading up to the Raiders’ third game. Look for Edwards to be active, especially if he’s a full participant on Friday.
Final Update: Despite Gruden’s comments that Edwards would be doubtful, he’s listed as questionable after a full week of limited participation.
Tyler Higbee - Hand
Hand fractures lead to approximately 3.8 days of missed time for NCAA players with a standard deviation of 15 days. That’s to say even though Higbee has been back in practice, he’s not quite a slam dunk to play due to this injury he sustained some time between Week 6 and 7.
Jamison Crowder- Doubtful, DeVante Parker - Groin
Both of these players are being lumped together due to the date of injury, type of injury, and level of concern. They both picked up a groin strain in Week 6 and now both have been limited in practice. In fact, Crowder missed Wednesday altogether. Given the numbers we’ve already discussed with Dalvin Cook (13 days to become pain free, 17 days to partially practice, 18 days to return to full practice, 14 days overall average missed time) these two receivers are volatile if active on Sunday.
Breshad Perriman - Concussion
Given Perriman’s previous bouts of concussions in 2013 and 2017, there’s a chance he misses Sunday’s game altogether. However, the flip side is that his last concussion was more than three years ago. At this point, his chances of returning are around 40-50%.
Michael Pittman Jr.- Calf
Pittman suffered compartment syndrome in Week 3 and hasn’t played since. The Colts designated him to return as of Friday night, so look for his official activation before Sunday before making any lineup decisions that involve him.
Mo Alie-Cox- Knee
This is a mysterious knee injury that actually may have initially occurred when the Colts played the Jets in Week 3 and Alie-Cox was taken down by a defender who drove his knee inward implicating MCL. It was also a forceful impact that could implicate a bone bruise he was playing through until it was exacerbated in Week 5. Either way the tight end is still only a partial participant on Friday following the bye so trusting that he’ll be active is dicey.
Sterling Shepard- Toe/Shoulder
Shepard is fairing well as of today as Art Stapelton points out that there isn’t anything alarming about his limited practices this week.
Devonta Freeman- Ankle
He didn’t practice on Friday and it’s extremely unlikely he plays.
That’s it for now. Check back in for Monday night players later in the weekend.