Week 10 Injury Report

Week 10 Injury Report: Quarterbacks

Daniel Jones

Injury: ACL tear

Daniel Jones, who got paid this offseason, unfortunately, is on the week 10 injury report and will miss the remainder of the year with a right ACL tear. The surgery date will greatly influence Jones availability for week one next season. Last year, Kyler Murray tore his ACL in week 14 (December 13th) but could not undergo surgery until January 3rd. The delay in surgery is typically due to swelling. The timeline for return begins the day of surgery, not the day of injury.

The ability to be ready in week one of the following season after an ACL tear depends on four key factors. These are listed below, and Jones situation is outlined.

• Age: At 26 years old, age is a push for his recovery. It’s not working in his favor, but it’s also not a hindrance to an efficient recovery.
• Time From Surgery to Week One: This will depend on when Jones undergoes surgery. 9 months is the cutoff for safety to return, but ideally, we want 10+ months. If he can undergo surgery in the next week he can realistically be ready for week one from a timeline standpoint.
• Number of Tissues Repaired: At present, reports only suggest ACL tear with no additional tissues. This works in his favor, as rehab can be much more aggressive from the start.
• Freak Athlete?: Jones is a nice athlete, but his athleticism is not elite.

Expected Return: 2024

Fantasy Impact: Quarterbacks historically do not see a major drop in fantasy production in the first year after an ACL. Jones rushing upside may be limited initially, but passing should not be an issue.

Kyler Murray

Injury: ACL

Murray is set to start in week 10, which will be 10 months and 9 days after surgery. Of course, we would love more time, but this is an acceptable timeline to return safely from an ACL injury.

Expected Return: Week 10

Fantasy Impact: Murray should not have any issue throwing the ball, but his rushing upside will likely be hindered for 2023.

Jalen Hurts

Injury: Left knee sprain

We saw Hurts take a nasty hit to the outside of his left knee against Dallas on Sunday. The video reveals what saved his knee and season his hip mobility. Hurts hip internally rotated roughly 50°, offloading his knee from undertaking significant stress that would have torn his ACL, MCL, and other tissues. Hurts continued to play and played really well. With a week 10 bye, Hurts will have two weeks to get any residual pain and swelling under control.

Expected Return: Week 11 (bye week 10)

Fantasy Impact: The bye comes at the perfect time. Jalen may still be dealing with minor soreness and pain in week 11 that could cap his rushing upside but will not affect his throwing.

Lamar Jackson

Injury: Ankle

Jackson tweaked his ankle in week 9, but should be fine. In fact, Jackson was not limited in practice at all this week.

Expected Return: Week 10

Fantasy Impact: Jackson is full-go this week.

Justin Fields

Injury: Thumb sprain

Fields is on the week 10 injury report as he continues progressing through his rehab, but it sounds as if he has not yet regained enough grip strength to play on Thursday this week. He will have another week to rehab and hopefully can return in week 11.

Expected Return: Week 11

Fantasy Impact: When Fields is ready to return, he may experience some accuracy issues if his grip strength is not fully regained.

Jarren Hall

Injury: Concussion

Expected Return: Week 11

Fantasy Impact: We do not expect a decline in fantasy production after a concussion. However, Josh Dobbs will be the starter.

Week 10 Injury Report: Running Backs

Cam Akers

Injury: Achilles tear

Sadly, Akers is on the week 10 injury report as he suffered the second Achilles tear of his young career on Sunday. This will end his season and be a major challenge for him to return in 2024. In 2021, Akers tore his right Achilles and miraculously returned in 6 months; however, it took 1.5 years for him to be productive again. This time, he tears his left Achilles and will now have two surgically repaired Achilles tendons.

The Achilles tendon is the strongest tendon in the body, responsible for taking on 10x the body weight in force. At nearly 220 lbs, that means both of Akers Achilles tendons must be able to withstand 2,200 lbs of force to create the explosion and power needed to be a professional running back.

Medical research shows that a full year after surgery, most people still have significant deficits in calf strength and muscle endurance in the surgically repaired Achilles/calf complex. In many cases, the strength and muscle endurance never reaches its pre-injury baseline. This is why the Achilles is the most difficult sports injury to return from.

Surgical techniques and rehab are always improving, and Aaron Rodgers is the perfect example, as he is clearly ahead of schedule from his Achilles tear. It will be interesting to see if Akers has the same new procedure as Rodgers. Regardless, it will be a major challenge for Akers to ever be productive again in this league.

Expected Return: TBD

Fantasy Impact: With this being the second Achilles tear of his career, it will be a major challenge for Akers to be productive again

David Montgomery

Injury: Rib injury

Montgomery will play in week 10, after missing weeks 7-8 with a rib injury. With three weeks to rest and rehab, pain should be under control, and shoulder and torso range of motion should be restored.

Expected Return: Week 10

Fantasy Impact: With three weeks to rest and rehab, Montgomery is not expected to be limited by this injury.

James Conner

Injury: Knee sprain

Conner has been on the IR since week five with a knee injury but has returned to practice (limited all week). Five weeks should be enough to recover from this type of injury, and coach Jonathan Gannon has stated that Conner looks good. However, we still don’t have a full picture on Conner’s availability this week. Hopefully, we get more clarity before kickoff.

Expected Return: Week 10-11

Fantasy Impact: With over a month to rehab, I expect Conner to pick up right where he left off.

Kenneth Walker

Injury: Chest

Walker was limited early in the week with a chest injury but was able to log a full practice Friday and carries no injury designation. He is now three weeks removed from his calf injury with no reports of setbacks. Neither of these injuries should impact his play this week. However, Zack Charbonnet’s evolution may continue to steal work from Walker.

Expected Return: Week 10

Fantasy Impact: This injury should not hinder Walker’s production.

Damien Pierce

Injury: Ankle

Pierce missed week 9 due to his ankle injury and will miss week 10 as well. Ankle sprains can hinder lateral cutting, but Pierce is more of a downhill runner. Ankle sprains also have a tremendously high re-injury rate, but that does not always indicate it will be debilitating.

Expected Return: Week 11

Fantasy Impact: He is out this week, but going forward, running backs average a decline of 11% in fantasy production but only a 3% dip in snap rate in their first game after an ankle sprain. Pierce is a downhill runner so he would not profile as the type of runner that an ankle sprain would hinder.

Kendre Miller

Injury: Ankle

Miller injured his ankle in week 9 and will not play this week. An injury-plagued rookie year has stunted the former TCU runner’s start to his career. The Saints have not given us insight into the severity of his injury, but with Miller’s inability to stay on the field this year and playing behind Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams, it’s safe to drop Miller in redraft leagues.

Expected Return: Week 11

Fantasy Impact: Running backs average a decline of 11% in fantasy production after an ankle sprain. Miller has such a small role in this offense; combined with his latest injury of the year, Miller does not need to be rostered at the moment.

Week 10 Injury Report: Wide Receivers

Ja’Marr Chase

Injury: Back

Chase is on the week 10 injury report after injuring his back when landing from a deep pass on Sunday. Imaging ruled out any serious injury, and Chase is reportedly dealing with “soreness.” In my clinical experience, low back spasms and muscle soreness can be very debilitating but is often short-lived. Patients often come in in agony with a very pessimistic outlook but often respond very quickly to treatment. Chase is an absolute gamer, and it sounds like he is feeling better and should play this week.

Expected Return: Week 10

Fantasy Impact: Low back “soreness” is often debilitating at first but responds quickly to treatment. I expect Chase to play at a high level.

Stefon Diggs

Injury: Back

At this time, information on Diggs’s back injury is limited. It appears the star injured his back in practice this week. The first difference between Diggs’s and Chase’s situations is time. Chase will have had a whole week to get treatment, which often is enough time to get the pain under control and mobility restored. With Diggs’s injury just happening, he does not have as much time to get treatment. As stated above, we don’t have much information on Diggs’s injury at this time, so fantasy players will have to stay tuned to reports. Buffalo plays Monday, so you must have a player to pivot to ready.

Expected Return: Week 10-11

Fantasy Impact: If Diggs is able to go, this should not hinder his production.

Justin Jefferson

Injury: Hamstring

Jefferson has returned to practice in a limited capacity but sounds unlikely to play in week 10 as he continues to rehab from his hamstring injury. Hamstrings impact receivers more than any other position group, and Minnesota wants to ensure their superstar is ready to go. Another week of rehab should have Jefferson close to 100% when mistreated hamstrings have a very high recurrence rate.

Expected Return: Week 11

Fantasy Impact: While receivers typically average a dip of 14% fantasy points after a hamstring injury, that will not apply to Jefferson due to the amount of time he has had to rehab and because of how dominant he is.

Deebo Samuel

Injury: Shoulder hairline fracture

Samuel first suffered the injury in week 6. He is now 4 weeks removed, which is typically enough time for the bone to heal enough to take on contact without pain.

Expected Return: Week 10

Fantasy Impact: As an upper-body injury, this will not affect Samuel’s speed, agility, or ability to get open or run after the catch.

Tee Higgins

Injury: Hamstring

Higgins is on the week 10 injury report after putting together a nice outing in week 9, tallying 110 yards on 83% of snaps. Higgins injured his hamstring in practice Wednesday and will not play in week 10.

The hamstring is a powerful muscle, critical in speed, especially at the top 80-100% of a sprint. When injured, receivers often have difficulty hitting that top speed, which is why it impacts deep-threat receivers the most and why re-injury rates are so high.

Expected Return: Week 10-11

Fantasy Impact: On average, receivers see a 14% dip in fantasy production and a 13% dip in snap rate in the first game after a hamstring injury.

Nico Collins

Injury: Calf

Collins is on the week 10 injury report after quietly enjoying a nice season as the WR14 on the year. Collins logged 79% of snaps in week 9, his second-highest rate of the season; however, he won’t play in week 10 due to the injury.

The calf is responsible for acceleration, top speed, jumping, and all other athletic motions. When injured, the ability to push off quickly is hindered, and top speed will be limited. Additionally, there is a 14-16% recurrence rate for calves.

Expected Return: Week 11

Fantasy Impact: Receivers, on average, see a whopping 45% dip in fantasy production and a 13% hit on snap rate when returning from a calf injury. That’s a sample of 16, in which only one player (Sammy Watkins 2020) could meet or exceed their pre-injury baseline in the first game after injury.

Drake London

Injury: Groin

London missed week 9 with a groin injury but has returned to practice and will play this week. Receiver’s average is missing 1.5 games, so his ability to play this week is consistent with historical numbers for the position. The groin is obviously a key lower body muscle group but actually is not as involved in cutting as you would think. Its position on the inside of the hip does make it valuable for single-leg stability, which is a big part of running, and it does help extend the hip, which creates speed, but the groin is not very involved in changing direction. Because of this, groin injuries are less likely to hinder a football player than they would a soccer player who is constantly planting on one leg to kick.

Expected Return: Week 10

Fantasy Impact: A large sample size of nearly 40 receivers shows, on average, no decline in fantasy production and only an 8% decline in snap rate after a groin injury. This should not hinder London’s production if he plays.

Christian Watson

Injury: Back/chest

Watson is off the week 10 injury report despite hurting his back and chest on Sunday. He likely was sore or bruised with no true injury. This will not be an issue.

Expected Return: Week 10

Fantasy Impact: Watson should be at full strength in week 10.

Curtis Samuel

Injury: Toe

Samuel missed week 9 with a toe injury and logged limited practices all week. Toes can be tricky. Moderate-severe toe injuries are very difficult to return and play well. The big toe is a critical part of running. It’s the last push-off point in the foot and must withstand several times the body weight in force. Injury to the tissues on the underside of the toe makes the toe unable to push powerfully and, as such, alters the running gait pattern in a way that makes the player slower.

Samuel’s slow return to practice indicates this is more than just a mild injury. This could impact him for several weeks.

Expected Return: Week 11

Fantasy Impact: This is likely more than a moderate injury and will slow down Samuel. This will impact his fantasy production if he plays. As a fringe flex play, its best to sit him this week.

Josh Downs

Injury: Knee

Downs remains on the week 10 injury report with a knee injury. The Colts have not given us much detail on Downs’s knee injury, but we know that he was dealing with it heading into week 9, aggravated it, and now did not practice this week. Without more detail, it’s hard to analyze the injury. However, any knee injury will impact a receiver’s ability to change direction and get open. His inability to practice all week does not bode well for his ability to play.

Expected Return: Week 11

Fantasy Impact: Knee injuries can slow down receivers’ route running. This would be expected to hinder Downs’ production if he plays.

KJ Osbourne

Injury: Concussion

As of Wednesday, Osbourne remains in the concussion protocol. He will have to progress through the protocol to play.

Expected Return: Week 11-12

Fantasy Impact: We do not expect a decline in fantasy production after concussions.

Week 10 Injury Report: Tight Ends

Dallas Goedert

Injury: Forearm fracture

Goedert is on the week 10 injury report as he broke his forearm after a long catch and run on Sunday. Dallas’s defender tackled Goedert by the arm and landed on Goedert’s arm, the perfect mechanism for a fracture. So far, we have only been told there is an injury to the bone. If this holds, he should return in 4-6 weeks without hindrance to his production.

Expected Return: Weeks 14-16

Fantasy Impact: In the short term, fantasy players must find a new tight end. If you can afford to hold Goedert, he should play at peak form when he returns in the fantasy playoffs.

TJ Hockenson

Injury: Rib injury

Hockenson should play this week after injuring his ribs on Sunday. Ribs are critical for function. When we breathe, the ribs must expand and recoil, and several key muscles, such as the lats, pecs, and obliques, attach to the ribs. Generally, rib injuries are pain management, but these muscles must also function properly. Typically, players can function well (except quarterbacks) if they can play with a rib injury.

Expected Return: Week 10

Fantasy Impact: This should not hinder Hockensons fantasy output.