Fantasy football aftermath: The injuries of Week 4
There wasn’t some long list of crazy injuries in Week 4. But that meant that the ones that did happen made the fantasy owners of those guys hate it even more.
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Week 4 of the NFL season was less injury-ravaged than many weeks of late. There were, at first glance, no players lost for the season, no definitively career-threatening bang-ups that sprang up.
Still, we saw some things that need monitoring, and some players entered the week with injuries that haven’t quite healed that still mattered during the week. So let’s run through it:
Quarterback injuries in Week 4
- Teddy Bridgewater had a strong debut as the Minnesota Vikings' starter, leading them to a big one, but he was carted off late in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. X-rays taken Sunday night came back negative, followed by an MRI, which should offer more information to come Monday. It looks like a sprain, which, depending on the severity, could have him out a few games, or could just keep him a bit limited in the team's next game. The bad side is that the Vikings' next game is on Monday night. He could be back on the field then; if he's not it'll be Christian Ponder back at the helm for Minnesota.
- Derek Carr left the Oakland Raiders' game against Miami in London with a sprained MCL and a sprained ankle. That's an injury that will keep him out for a few weeks. The Raiders have a Week 5 bye because of the London trip, but Carr won't be back for the team's Week 6 game, either. Matt Schaub -- who didn't make the trip to London -- probably stands to be the starter in Carr's absence, but Matt McGloin is also in the running for the role.
- After missing a pair of games with a damaged shoulder nerve, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer appears to be working toward a Week 5 return. Reports say he's made good progress in his recuperation. The bugaboo here is that the Cardinals have won two games with Drew Stanton at the helm, and Palmer's injury is one that often reduces arm strength. Palmer might be healthy enough for Week 5, but there's nothing that says the Cardinals have to go back to him. Stay tuned.
Running back injuries in Week 4
- Joique Bell of the Detroit Lions left Sunday's game in the third quarter with a concussion. That means there's no way to know anything about him until he's at least started in the league's concussion protocol. It's not even worth speculating on, except to say his stock is lower than we expected based on recent results, but until we know more, he's in a holding pattern.
- Arian Foster was clearly running at less than full strength for the Houston Texans. He had only six rushing yards, with almost all of his production coming on checkdown passes from quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. After missing Week 3, though, just the fact that Foster made it back onto the field from his hamstring injury is a good note. Assuming he continues improving -- and there's no real reason to suspect he won't -- Foster is a fine play in Week 5 against the Cowboys.
Wide receiver injuries in Week 4
- Michael Crabtree left Sunday's San Francisco 49ers game for a while with a foot injury, but he returned to the field and looked fine afterward. There's always the chance he gets worse after letting it sit for a bit, but in general, Crabtree looks good to stay in lineups.
- Eric Decker was supposed to be really limited by his hamstring injury Sunday, but the New York Jets receiver was targeted 10 times, catching four passes and going for a touchdown. He showed enough improvement after Week 3 that he ought to be back to normal fantasy status for Week 5.
- In a move that frustrated approximately all of the fantasy owners, the Detroit Lions used Calvin Johnson almost entirely as a decoy Sunday, after he was limited in practice all week with an ankle injury. Everything Johnson and the team said after Sunday's game indicated he'd be good to go for next week; then again, everything they said leading up to Sunday's game indicated he'd be a big part of the offense. We don't really know what to expect out of Johnson, but it's still Calvin Johnson, and if they keep him active, you're stuck.
- Cecil Shorts III has 60 yards and a touchdown on the entire season, after missing the first two games and leaving Week 4's game early with a recurrence of the same hamstring injury that cost him Weeks 1 and 2. It's too early to know whether he's going to be back for Week 5, but it's hard to imagine he'll be at full strength or fantasy trustworthy even if he is.
Tight end injuries in Week 4
- Vernon Davis missed Week 3 with an ankle injury, then made it back onto the field Sunday for two catches and 8 yards before leaving with back spasms. Early reports say that he'll be fine to play in Week 5, but we need better than "should be on the field" to rely on him. With only Mychal Rivera and Charles Clay on a bye next week, Davis owners want to have a replacement in mind, and I'd lean to using the replacement until we get a really good report on Davis.
