Fantasy Football Injury News, Week 5: Beanie Wells Expected To Start, And More

Johnson suffered a hamstring injury that required a surgical procedure expected to sideline him upwards of three weeks. He missed this past week’s game, but now Kubiak thinks Johnson will try and practice during the coming days. The odds are slim that he will play against the Ravens, but it is worth checking the practice participation reports to see if he is in the mix.

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When Mike Shanahan has dealt with injuries in the past, it has often led to a running back by committee situation. Given the performance of Torain against the Rams, it would not be surprising to see some sort of committee. For fantasy purposes that creates huge headaches since it conceivably limits the value of BOTH Torain and Hightower.

For now though, you’ll want to keep an eye out for updates on the Redskins this week. I don’t know if we’ll get many straight answers from Mike Shanahan, but information could still leak out. We’ll have updates throughout the week.

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The Chargers will likely have an update on both Mathews and Tolbert on Monday. I would suspect the two backs will be sidelined for some of practice this week. It will likely take at least two or three days to get a better idea of the full status of both running backs.

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Johnson said after the game that he was set to get back onto the field but by then the game was out of hand and the coaching staff didn’t want to risk further injury. That is a reasonable excuse for keeping Johnson out of the game, but his situation will bear watching moving forward. The Titans are on bye this coming week, so he’ll have extra time to loosen up the hamstring.

We likely won’t hear a whole lot this week, but next week it will be worth keeping an eye out to see what happens with that hamstring. If he is not practicing the week of the Titans next game, then there might be some reason for concern. For now just hold steady. Depending on Monday’s update, we’ll keep an eye on the necessary running back waiver wire details for you.

Speculation has come all week that Mendenhall would either be inactive or not play today. Last year’s breakout fantasy RB has been disappointing all year, tallying only 173 yards and two touchdowns in four games, running for only three yards per carry and less than 50 yards a game. Now, Mendenhall is, for all intents and purposes, sidelined with a hamstring injury. Anyone who’s dealt with a hamstring strain can tell you they’re the most frustrating to deal with because of their ability to linger, and completely, well, hamstring your ability.

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Manningham has gotten off to a much slower start, but could be poised for a breakout game. Although he’s caught just seven passes for 115 yards, his speed makes him a constant deep threat and the Seahawks will likely be especially vulnerable this week.

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Michael Vick was simply phenomenal last week, but in case he goes down, it’ll be Vince Young, not Mike Kafka, who takes over:

But again, don’t be that guy — he’s not playing this week.

Minnesota has done an excellent job stopping the run: they’re fifth in the league by giving up just 76.3 rushing yards per game, and they rank sixth by allowing just 3.3 yards per carry. They’ve given up just three rushing touchdowns on the year, half of what they’ve allowed through the air.

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At this point it’s unknown when Gates will play, but he is expected to try and resume practice after the Chargers bye week next week. Gates has been running on a treadmill with no setbacks, so it looks like the plan is still in motion. Without Gates, the Chargers passing attack and offense has been up and down. He’s clearly a missing cog in their offense.

Update: It’s official.

Wells is off to a nice rebound season, averaging just over 5 yards per carry and has 5 rushing touchdowns in just 3 games. If you have Wells in your line up, make sure he is active before setting it and walking away. He is expected to play, but hamstrings are tricky. You should be safe to play him, as most believe he was held out of practice by the staff rather than because of his injury.