By Scott Kacsmar
The NFL avoided a serious injury to Josh Allen last week, but Cooper Kupp was not so fortunate just two weeks after he dodged a bullet late in the game against the 49ers. Kupp leads the list of skill players who did not leave Week 10 unscathed.
In addition to Kupp, here are all the notable injuries from Week 10 that you should work around for your fantasy teams, DFS lineups, Same Game Parlays, and other prop bets this week.
WR Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams
At 3-6, the title defense is effectively over for the Rams. There will be a new champion once again in the NFL, continuing the longest drought in history without a repeat winner.
If the Rams could not win with Cooper Kupp being stellar again, then they certainly won’t win without him. He suffered a high ankle sprain and will undergo surgery that will place him on injured reserve. Given the team’s place in the standings, there may not be any good reason to bring him back in December or January.
It was the kind of play that symbolizes how tough this season has been for the Rams. John Wolford, a backup quarterback only starting because of a surprise concussion for Matthew Stafford, sailed a very high pass for Kupp in the fourth quarter on Sunday. While landing, Kupp was wiped out below the knees by the defensive back. The play wouldn’t have looked so bad if the ball was not so poorly thrown.
Kupp remained down for a while before being helped off the field. We may not see him again until 2023. He finished the game with three catches for -1 yard, the worst game of his career. It was also just the fourth time since 2021 that Kupp did not have at least 79 yards in a game. All four games were against the Arizona defense.
This is not the way anyone wanted to see the Rams have to use the other receivers like Allen Robinson and Van Jefferson. Even with Kupp averaging over 90 yards per game and scoring a touchdown most weeks, the Rams are 29th in scoring.
Even if Stafford returns this week, he has passed for fewer than 200 yards in consecutive weeks for the first time in his NFL career. With the Rams still ranked 32nd in rushes, 32nd in rushing yards, and 31st in yards per carry, it is hard to say there’s a good running game to turn to without Kupp.
This offense could be in shambles for the rest of the season.
QB P.J. Walker, Carolina Panthers
This has been an odd month as both Matthew Stafford and Kyler Murray missed a game last week despite finishing the previous week’s game without any apparent injury. Now the same is happening in Carolina with P.J. Walker.
Walker suffered a high ankle sprain, one of 2022’s most popular injuries, in Thursday night’s win over Atlanta. Baker Mayfield is going to start again with Sam Darnold to serve as his backup.
First, it’s not like Walker was relied on much. He passed 16 times for 108 yards against Atlanta as the team has decided to run the ball like crazy ever since firing Matt Rhule and trading Christian McCaffrey. D’Onta Foreman is living his best Derrick Henry or Nick Chubb life the last month, and there is no reason they can’t try to continue that with Mayfield back in the fold. This is the type of injury that could cost Walker a couple weeks.
But frankly, it’s an embarrassing look for this team to be starting Walker and barely getting 100 yards passing out of him while Mayfield and Darnold, two of the top three picks from the 2018 draft, stand on the sideline.
Mayfield looked good in relief of the benched Walker two weeks ago in Cincinnati, but that game got out of hand early with the Bengals up 35-0.
But this could be an interesting audition for Mayfield this week to regain his starting job for good. The Panthers are a big underdog against the Ravens, but it is an opponent Mayfield knows well from his time in the AFC North. Mayfield is 3-5 against the Ravens. Most interestingly, Mayfield has five games in his career with at least 340 passing yards, and four of them are against Baltimore.
It is unlikely he will get that kind of production with this Carolina offense, but this is another big chance for him to show he can still start in this league. Mayfield’s 17.6 QBR is still dead last in 2022. He may not have many chances left in the NFL.
WR Jerry Jeudy, Denver Broncos
It is easy to trash Russell Wilson and the Denver offense for ranking 32nd in scoring while the defense is No. 1 in points allowed. They are no doubt wasting one of the best defensive efforts in the league this year, but we also cannot overlook the injuries this offense has had, including some to Wilson.
Already playing without No. 3 receiver Tim Patrick and top running back Javonte Williams, the Broncos lost Wilson’s most dependable wideout this year, Jerry Jeudy, on the first play of the game in Tennessee after he injured his ankle on a deep ball target.
Fortunately, it is a muscle strain and considered a minor injury. Jeudy avoided anything serious like a torn ACL or ruptured Achilles, so that is great news. He could play next week. He has been more efficient for Wilson as a target than Courtland Sutton this season.
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kansas City Chiefs
Just when he was getting on a roll, JuJu had to leave Sunday’s game with a concussion after playing 24 snaps. It was a big hit, and similar to what we saw with Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion in Cincinnati earlier this year, Smith-Schuster’s arms were stuck in the air for a scary number of seconds.
But despite how bad it looked, there is optimism that he’ll be just fine and could even play this week. We have seen multiple players return from a first concussion on the season in the next game, though it is possible it will cost him one game. The biggest concern is if there’s another concussion in a short period of time, though the Chiefs have a whole week before this next game with the Chargers.
It would not be ideal for Patrick Mahomes to lose his new No. 1 wide receiver for this game, but he still has Travis Kelce and Kadarius Toney shined on Sunday with his first NFL touchdown. The Chiefs have plenty of weapons.
RB Khalil Herbert, Chicago Bears
Chicago’s historic rushing offense is going to be without its most effective back for at least four weeks. Khalil Herbert injured his hip on a late kick return and is going on the injured reserve list. He can return after missing the next four games.
Herbert is averaging 6.0 yards per carry this season and has 209 more yards than David Montgomery despite receiving seven fewer carries.
The Bears are the first team in NFL history to rush for at least 230 yards in five consecutive games. They still have Montgomery, and quarterback Justin Fields is the team’s leading rusher with 749 yards, but Herbert will be missed.
Trestan Ebner is the most likely replacement, but he only has 18 carries for 46 yards this year. That could mean more carries for Montgomery again. But frankly, it should mean a few more passes per game as the Bears need to get this passing offense going better. In each of the last two games, they just needed to set up a field goal and failed to move the ball into scoring range.
RB Leonard Fournette, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers were competing with the Rams for the worst rushing offense in 2022, but Tampa Bay found a way to rush for 161 yards in Germany against Seattle. It was the team’s first 100-yard rushing game since the opener against Dallas.
But most of the yards went to third-round rookie Rachaad White, who got the start and rushed for 105 yards after rushing for 117 yards in the season’s first nine games.
Leonard Fournette still played 22 snaps and was busy with a touchdown run, 57 yards, and an ill-fated interception on a pass intended for Tom Brady. But a hip pointer ended his day early.
The Buccaneers are on the bye week, so we may not get any clarity on Fournette’s return for a week. But if White keeps playing like he did in Germany, then the Bucs won’t necessarily need Fournette to return quickly.
TE Zach Ertz, Arizona Cardinals
The news is not good for the veteran tight end. Zach Ertz was injured in the first quarter while being tackled on a catch. He left the game, and it is being ruled a season-ending knee injury even though the team has not clearly stated if his ACL is torn.
It is another tough blow for an Arizona receiving corps that has gone through a Marquise Brown injury, a DeAndre Hopkins suspension, and now the team’s leader in receptions is done for the year.
But this is a big opportunity for Trey McBride, the second-round rookie tight end out of Colorado State. He has just four catches for 31 yards on the season, but he has barely been playing too. He played 91% of the snaps on Sunday after Ertz went down early. We’ll see if that’s the plan going forward, but he is going to have to contribute something to this passing game.
TE Gerald Everett, Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers really may be cursed. Tight end Gerald Everett was hoping to have a huge night in San Francisco with the team’s top two wide receivers, Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, out. He caught two early passes for 23 yards but had to leave with a groin injury.
With the injury considered day-to-day, there is a fair chance Everett returns to action this Sunday night in a huge game with the Chiefs. It would be even sweeter if Allen and Williams could return too, but hopefully the Chargers won’t be without all three.
Everett in particular could use a big game against the Chiefs. In Week 2, he had season highs with 10 targets, six catches, and 71 yards, but he was also visibly gassed in the fourth quarter on a long drive after making two catches in a row. That proved costly as he could barely run a route at the goal line, and Justin Herbert’s pass to his fatigued tight end was intercepted and returned 99 yards for a touchdown to give the Chiefs the lead for good.
That was one of the most significant plays of the season as the Chiefs (7-2) travel to the Chargers (5-4) to complete the sweep and take full control of the AFC West again.
TE Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles lost their first game of the season on Monday night, and they may have lost their tight end for the next month. Dallas Goedert played a pivotal part in Philadelphia’s first loss after losing a fumble in the fourth quarter against Washington. The referees missed a blatant face mask penalty on the play that should have negated the fumble.
Thanks to the same ill-fated play, Goedert now has a shoulder injury and could be out until Week 15 or longer. He had been enjoying his best season with 60.4 yards per game and a ridiculous 81.1% catch rate.
Jack Stoll is the No. 2 tight end behind Goedert, though he is more of a blocker and has four catches on the season. Grant Calcaterra is a rookie who caught a 40-yard pass earlier this season, so he may get a few more looks until Goedert can come back.
But this should just raise the potential for A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith to put up more receiving yards. Both were shut down on Monday night against the Commanders.
