Anthony Gonzalez Could Return Soon

Colts WR Anthony Gonzalez is due to start practicing again soon, which is both good news and bad news.

Gonzalez has been out since spraining ligaments in his right knee during a season-opening 14-12 victory over Jacksonville, and the starter opposite Reggie Wayne has not practiced since.

Gonzalez caught 57 passes for 664 yards last season, and he was primed to take over the No. 2 receiving spot after Marvin Harrison was released in the offseason. The non-contact injury derailed those plans, but coach Jim Caldwell said Thursday that Gonzalez could practice this week.

“It’s kind of a day to day thing,” Caldwell said. “He’s been feeling really good. He has not obviously practiced to this point, but we do feel that he’s going to start shortly. When that is, I’m not certain.”

This is obviously great news for fantasy owners who held on to Gonzalez during his injury. Does his injury mean the end of the road for the fantasy value of Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon? Both of them have been hot waiver wire targets since Gonzalez went down. Collie has three touchdowns in the last two games while Garcon has two games with 60+ receiving yards. Both of them are owned in at least 72% of CBS Sportsline leagues.

The likely result is that Gonzalez returns to his spot as the Colts’ WR2 while either Collie or Garcon fade into the background. That may not happen right away though. Just because Gonzalez practices doesn’t mean he’s playing, and just because he’s playing doesn’t mean he’s effective. It could be 2 or 3 weeks before Gonzalez is up to full speed. If you have Collie or Garcon, they may still have a few good games left in them.