By Scott Kacsmar
With six NFL teams playing this Thursday for Thanksgiving, some injury situations could require your immediate attention for the week. Here are all the notable injuries from Week 11 that you should work around for your fantasy teams, DFS lineups, Same Game Parlays, and other prop bets this week.
QB Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
A troublesome situation is developing in Los Angeles after Matthew Stafford is in the concussion protocol again. He suffered a concussion a few weeks ago against the Buccaneers despite completing that game. He was ruled out of the Arizona game, then cleared to return to face New Orleans.
But in the third quarter, Stafford appeared to hit his head and was removed from the game for good. This could be a second concussion in two weeks for Stafford, which would be a difficult thing to rush him back from.
With the Rams at 3-7 and 14.5-point underdogs in Kansas City this week, it frankly seems pointless to bring him back at all for this lost cause of a season. Let Stafford (and Cooper Kupp) get healthy for 2023.
Bryce Perkins ended up finishing the game at quarterback for Stafford on Sunday. He was 5-of-10 for 64 yards and ran the ball five times for 39 yards. Without much of a passing game to speak of without Kupp, the Rams might as well try something different with the athletic Perkins to see what they have there.
QB Justin Fields, Chicago Bears
The Bears are being a bit coy about Justin Fields’ shoulder injury, which landed him on a cart after Sunday’s loss in Atlanta. The injury is to Fields’ non-throwing shoulder, but head coach Matt Eberflus would not deny if the injury had any season-ending potential.
The Bears have a late bye in Week 14, so it would not be unreasonable to expect Fields to sit out the next two games against the Jets and Packers. Trevor Siemian is Chicago’s backup. But nothing is set in stone yet about the severity of this injury.
It is just one that you have to wonder if it was unavoidable with Fields having 46 runs over the last three games. Even Lamar Jackson realized after his rookie season that running the ball that often at quarterback is not sustainable in the NFL.
WR Mike Williams, Los Angeles Chargers
Credit to Williams for trying his best to return for a huge game against the Chiefs that was really the team’s last hurrah for winning the division this year. But after six snaps and one 15-yard catch, Williams’ ankle injury was reaggravated and his night was cut short.
We may not see him again for a while, a big loss as he was averaging 70.7 yards per game before Sunday night. But you can at least understand why he tried to give it a go against the Chiefs.
At least Keenan Allen returned, and the Chargers got a great game out of Josh Palmer (106 yards and two touchdowns). Justin Herbert will mostly miss Williams’ size advantage.
WR Kadarius Toney, Kansas City Chiefs
Here we go again. Even when the stars align for Toney on a night where JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman were out at wide receiver for the Chiefs, his hamstring acted up on him and he left the game after 14 snaps and zero catches on one target.
Nagging injuries were a reason the Giants were willing to trade the former first-round pick in his second season. The Chiefs can obviously get by without him just fine, and Smith-Schuster should be back soon from his concussion, but it would be nice to see Toney stay healthy for a few weeks in a row.
WR Wan’Dale Robinson, New York Giants
Speaking of the Giants and injured wide receivers, it unfortunately has happened again. Second-round rookie Wan’Dale Robinson tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the season. It comes just as he was having his breakout game with nine catches for 100 yards.
The Giants have already lost Sterling Shepard to a torn ACL this year, Kadarius Toney was always hurt, and free-agent bust Kenny Golladay was either hurt or ineffective.
This leaves Darius Slayton and Richie James as the primary wideouts in this offense. Could an Odell Beckham Jr. reunion be on the way? If he wants to chase a ring, he’s probably better off choosing Dallas at this point, though the targets and catches would be more plentiful with the Giants.
RB Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Mixon entered the concussion protocol after playing 14 snaps against the Steelers. As we know this year, a concussion could very well mean the player will miss the next game, though it is not definite.
Mixon just had the biggest game of his career a few weeks back with five touchdowns against the Panthers, but that is the outlier for this rushing offense. The Bengals also draw an incredibly tough matchup on the road at Tennessee, which has been great at stopping the run as of late.
Mixon may not be a factor either way, but the Bengals could use Samaje Perine after he caught three touchdowns against the Steelers. Just keep in mind that Perine has never had more than 13 carries in any game with the Bengals, and he hasn’t done that in the NFL since his 2017 rookie season with Washington. He is more of a receiving and third down back.
Trayveon Williams is the other Cincinnati running back. He was a sixth-round pick by the team in 2019, but he only has 43 carries for 215 yards in four seasons.
RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Kansas City Chiefs
After already losing his starting job to Isiah Pacheco, Edwards-Helaire injured his ankle on just five snaps against the Chargers. With nine snaps in the last two weeks, CEH’s absence won’t register in Kansas City where he was often used at the detriment of the offense.
Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon should continue to split the duties just fine as long as they are not fumbling the ball. Pacheco rushed for 107 yards in the first game after he was announced as the lead back.
RB Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers
Warren suffered a hamstring injury in four snaps against the Bengals on Sunday. He did not return to the game and could miss some time as those injuries are tough to deal with for runners.
Warren was often getting around 30% of the snaps to take some carries and third-down catches away from Najee Harris, who has been less of a workhorse this season than he was as a rookie last year.
The good news is that Harris has finally looked good in the last two games, logging 20 carries for 90-to-99 yards in each game. He even scored two touchdowns against the Bengals and caught four balls for 26 yards.
If Warren is out, the Steelers will likely lean more on Harris as they did last year. If he can keep playing like the last two weeks, they will be content with that.
RB Chase Edmonds, Denver Broncos
Edmonds was a recent addition from the Dolphins, but he will miss some time with a high ankle sprain. The injury comes at a bad time as the Broncos released veteran Melvin Gordon, who fumbles way too much in crucial spots.
This is a backfield that already lost Javonte Williams for the season. Now with Edmonds down and Gordon out of town, look for more Latavius Murray. The problem is he averages 3.3 yards per carry for the 32nd-ranked scoring offense, so playing him in any format is a risk.
TE Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
The news is not good for Pitts as fears are surgery for a torn MCL that would end his season. The move to injured reserve has already happened, so he’ll miss at least the next four games.
The Falcons were not making good use of Pitts this season. His yards per game dropped from 60.4 to 35.6 this year as the Falcons drafted a prehistoric approach to offense with Marcus Mariota at quarterback.
Parker Hesse is the second-leading receiver at tight end on the team with five catches for 50 yards. But he is more of a blocker and has one catch over the last six games.
It is another blow to an Atlanta offense that is trying to get by in a division race with Tom Brady’s Buccaneers. Now they have to do it without a tight end unless Cordarrelle Patterson wants to try converting to another position.
