The Infirmary Report: Post Week 4

Fantasy Football

The worst part of our beloved game is the frequency of injuries. It’s an unfortunate byproduct of such a fast-paced, contact-heavy sport. It’s something that is important to remember as we approach the first full week of the preseason. Luckily for the NFL players, they have access to some of the best doctors in the world and can usually return to form at least by the next season. Unfortunately for us fantasy players, it’s not always easy to know when a player will get hurt. To another degree, sometimes your roster isn’t big enough to plan ahead for an injury. This series, the Infirmary Report, will give you advice on the injuries that have happened every week during the season. Without further ado, here is the Infirmary Report: Post Week 4 of regular season action.

Javonte Williams, RB, Broncos

Injury: Javonte Williams suffered a torn ACL against the Raiders.

Expected Return: He will likely be placed on season-ending IR.

Key Takeaway: 

Obviously, Melvin Gordon is the main benefactor as he was already being used plenty. But it’s important to remember that he’s past the age apex and has an extensive injury history. Not only that, but he’s already fumbled four times in four weeks! It’s time for journeyman Mike Boone to make his presence known. Nathaniel Hackett will use a committee, and Boone is a good pass catcher as well as a runner. In 2019, he ran for 148 yards and a touchdown in Week 17 against the Bears. He has a 100th percentile burst score, 80th percentile 40-yard dash, and 86th percentile bench press. Boone is definitely worth a pickup.

Jonathan Taylor, RB, Colts

Injury: Jonathan Taylor suffered an ankle injury against the Titans.

Expected Return: Questionable Week 5 (Should be Doubtful though because the Colts play Thursday)

Key Takeaway: 

After already disappointing in the fantasy points department, Taylor will now likely miss some time due to injury. Hopefully, if you own Taylor, you also have Nyheim Hines. Hines has had 10+ touches 20 times in his career and averages 14.5 points across that span. I don’t expect Taylor to be out there on Thursday so fire up your Hines against Denver.

Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Dolphins

https://twitter.com/969thegame/status/1576935156102873091

Injury: Tua Tagovailoa suffered another head injury against the Bengals.

Expected Return: There is no timetable yet for his injury as these types of injuries are very hard to predict. He’s out indefinitely.

Key Takeaway: 

Obviously, you pick up Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater’s not great, but his weapons are. For fantasy purposes, he will probably be very similar to Tagovailoa, boom or bust, depending on Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle‘s YAC. As far as Tagovailoa’s injury goes, and the way it was handled in Week 3, there need to be some serious repercussions. There was no reason for him to be playing Thursday, and it was massive oversight to allow him on that field.

Brian Hoyer, QB, Patriots

Injury: Brian Hoyer suffered a concussion against the Packers.

Expected Return: He is Questionable for Week 5.

Key Takeaway: 

It’s Bailey Zappe time in New England! He looked decent against a stingy Packers finishing the day with a 107.4 passer rating and a TD. He holds the FBS record for most passing yards (5,967) and passing touchdowns (62) in a college season. In all honesty, even if Hoyer comes back, the Patriots might as well see what they have in Zappe until Mac Jones returns.

Justice Hill, RB, Ravens

Injury: Justice Hill suffered a hamstring injury against the Bills.

Expected Return: He is Questionable for week 5.

Key Takeaway: 

Hill saw 10 touches before the injury and was actually looking decent. He actually finished the day with more rush yards than J.K. Dobbins despite five fewer carries.

Justice Hill Advanced Stats & Metrics Profile

Hopefully, this isn’t a serious hamstring injury as Hill was starting to look like a valuable handcuff. Of course, if he does miss time, fire up your Dobbins.

Isaiah McKenzie and Jamison Crowder, WR, Bills

Injury: Jamison Crowder broke his ankle and Isaiah McKenzie suffered a concussion on Sunday.

Expected Return: Crowder is out indefinitely and McKenzie is Questionable for Week 5.

Key Takeaway: 

As we’ve seen this season, concussions are highly subjective. McKenzie will probably be out there next week and will now have the added benefit of Crowder being out. His snaps will go up because of that. Rookie Khalil Shakir is also someone to watch especially if McKenzie does have to miss a game.

Noah Brown, WR, Cowboys

Injury: Noah Brown suffered a neck injury against the Commanders.

Expected Return: He is Questionable for Week 5.

Key Takeaway: 

Noah Brown has made a splash so far this season due to his connection with Cooper Rush. He has a 20.8-percent target share that skyrockets to 62.5-percent in the red zone. His absence would be a big blow to the Cowboys, but Michael Gallup and Dalton Schultz should be plenty. CeeDee Lamb has also finally started to show up this season.

Jonnu Smith, TE, Patriots

Injury: Jonnu Smith suffered an ankle injury against the Packers.

Expected Return: The severity and timetable for this injury are still unknown, he’s currently Questionable for week 5.

Key Takeaway: 

It’s time for Hunter Henry to step up. This will be hard to do based on how the Patriots are playing so far. They are pretty terrible. With Bailey Zappe under center, they should be running the ball more too. But if there’s ever a time for Henry to step up, it’s with Smith inactive. But to be honest, it’s probably best to just leave him to the waiver wire/bench.

Daniel Jones, QB, Giants

Injury: Daniel Jones injured his ankle against the Bears.

Expected Return: He is Questionable for Week 5.

Key Takeaway: 

Tyrod Taylor was also concussed, so the Giants may be in trouble. However, it seems that this isn’t serious, and Danny Dimes will be back in no time. He did use his run game heavily this week so that may not be on the table, but he should be out there nonetheless. If he isn’t, look for lots of Wildcat formation.

Treylon Burks, WR, Titans

Injury: Treylon Burks has been diagnosed with turf toe.

Expected Return: There is no exact timetable yet because turf toe varies from case to case. The median return is 28 days/4 weeks so it’s possible he ends up on short-term IR.

Key Takeaway: 

Burks was trending in a positive direction after a slow start to the season before getting turf toe. You hate to see it happen to such a promising rookie, hopefully he can recover soon. Now it’s up to Robert Woods, Kyle Philips and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine with a possibility that the Titans lean even more on the run game and Derrick Henry as he seems to have found his stride.

Jahan Dotson, WR, Commanders

Injury: Jahan Dotson suffered a hamstring injury on Sunday.

Expected Return: He is Questionable for Week 5.

Key Takeaway: 

He’s saying he’ll be fine, so I’m just gonna have to take his word for it. I’ve been doubting players all season that have said they’re ready to play even if they’re injured like Dalvin Cook, Najee Harris, and others. Dotson’s had a great rookie campaign, so I fully expect him to be given a rest day or two and play on Sunday.

Cordarrelle Patterson, RB, Falcons

Injury: Cordarrelle Patterson picked up a knee injury over the week and played through it and is now somehow placed on IR.

Expected Return: He’s out for at least four weeks, so he should be back Week 9.

Key Takeaway:

Yet another RB took a hit this week and unfortunately it’s 31 year old Cordarrelle Patterson who’s been enjoying a late career revival in Atlanta. Rookie Tyler Allgeier will have to step it up. He looked good this week, carrying the ball 10 times for 84 yards and also had a 20 yard catch. Avery Williams will also be used as a pass catcher. But definitely go pick up Allgeier if you can.