Week 15 NFL Injury Report: Adrian Peterson, Kevin Smith Both Expect To Play Sunday

We look at some final updates to the final injury report for week 15 of the 2011 NFL season. For more on fantasy football, check out Fake Teams.

by David Fucillo

Dec 18, 2011, 12:00 PM UTC

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Fantasy Football Week 15 Injury News: Adrian Peterson Returns

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The NFL gets Week 15 going again on Sunday and there are some key injury situations to watch. Below is a rundown of the final injury reports featuring pertinent fantasy athletes. The only significant change listed is the Patriots decision to downgrade Deion Branch from questionable to out.

We will have detailed injury updates as kickoff approaches, but the most important news is that Adrian Peterson and Kevin Smith both plan on playing this week. It is possible they could end up being late scratches, but as it currently stands, they are expected to suit up and carry the load. Peterson would seem to be the safer play this week. Smith is still worth playing, but owners should beware potential aggravations of his ankle injury.

For those wondering, the designations break down as follows:

Out: 0% change of playing
Doubtful: 25% chance of playing
Questionable: 50% chance of playing
Probable: 75% chance of playing

For fantasy purposes, you can almost always assume a probable player can be slotted into your lineup. I would be somewhat shocked if any of those Probable players ended up inactive this Sunday barring any news tonight or tomorrow. Questionable players on the other hand put you in a tough position. At least half if not more of these guys will play, but you will likely find yourself waiting on a “game-time decision” for most of them. It is not a problem for 1:00pm ET starts, but the 4:05 and 4:15pm ET starts, it can become a pain in the butt setting your lineup. For those I simply suggest trying to slot them into your flex position (if you have one) so you have some flexibility between running backs and wide receivers (and maybe even tight ends).

All day Sunday we’ll have final updates for all of these players so check back then. And of course, feel free to tweet us @sbnationfantasy with any sit/start questions you might have.

OUT

QB Colt McCoy, Browns

RB Matt Forte, Bears
RB Mark Ingram, Saints
RB Darren McFadden, Raiders
RB Javon Ringer, Titans

WR Deion Branch, Patriots
WR Jacoby Ford, Raiders
WR Greg Jennings, Packers
WR Andre Johnson, Texans

TE Scott Chandler, Bills
TE Ben Watson, Browns

DOUBTFUL

QB Sam Bradford, Rams

TE Dallas Clark, Colts

QUESTIONABLE

QB Matt Hasselbeck, Titans
QB Kevin Kolb, Cardinals
QB Matt Moore, Dolphins

RB Montario Hardesty, Browns
RB Taiwan Jones, Raiders
RB Kevin Smith, Lions
RB James Starks, Packers
RB Danny Woodhead, Patriots

WR Josh Cribbs, Browns
WR Anthony Gonzalez, Colts
WR Devin Hester, Bears
WR Jeremy Maclin, Eagles
WR Denarius Moore, Raiders
WR Laurent Robinson, Cowboys
WR Nate Washington, Titans
WR Wes Welker, Patriots