Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew hopes to play on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, but according to Hays Carlyon of the Florida Times-Union, the veteran running back "doesn't sound overly confident." Jones-Drew is dealing with a hamstring strain, and is expected to miss practice on both Wednesday and Thursday.
Maurice Jones-Drew hopes to play Sunday, has low fantasy value
Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew hopes to play on Sunday. We break down the fantasy implications.
Sam Greenwood
By all accounts, Jones-Drew will test the hamstring at practice on Friday and see how he feels from there. Jones-Drew isn’t at a point in his career where he needs a full week of practice to be ready to play by any means, but hamstring injuries are one of those that you want to be 100 percent on before you return.
Re-injuring a hamstring before its fully healed can often lead to disastrous results. Still, the Jaguars are not really competing for the playoffs (though not technically eliminated, with a chance to earn a wildcard spot at 7-9, if four or five other teams completely tank) and rushing Jones-Drew back doesn’t appear to be a priority.
Fantasy Impact: Jones-Drew has been very disappointing this season. He's struggled mightily all year, posting per-carry averages of under 3.0 yards in five separate games this season. He was injured late in the game against the Houston Texans on Thursday, but that game was notable as Jones-Drew's only 100-plus rushing yardage game this season. He's not a must-start, and he should be avoided even further due to his injuries this week.
