Week 5 Injury Review
After a controlled start of the season, COVID-19 is starting to make its mark in the football season. As of when I am writing this, the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills are still scheduled to play on Tuesday night somehow. The Patriots versus the Broncos game has been canceled. Many teams have individual cases that haven’t spread as of yet and are controlled. The games that are being played, however, seem to have injuries slowed down. After the first couple of injury riddled weeks, the past couple of weeks have been fairly injury free. Here is the week five fantasy injury report.
A.J. Green, Wide Receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals
First of all, if you were relying on A.J. Green to this point, I am very sorry. In the offseason I was completely off Green due to age combined with his injury history. Now, A.J. Green is officially out of any lineups forever really. But in terms of his Week 5 injury, Green sustained a hamstring injury in Sunday’s game against the Ravens. This isn’t Green’s first run in with a hamstring injury. He hurt his hamstring in training camp this year as well. Hamstring injuries have held players out at least a week so far this year. I expect nothing less for an aging wide receiver in A.J. Green.
For fantasy purposes, like I said earlier, Green is an instant drop to the waiver wire. He clogs a roster spot and doesn’t present any upside when he comes back with this hamstring injury. Green has seen some targets this year, however. Those targets need to go somewhere else in the offense. Tyler Boyd has already established himself as the wide receiver to own in Cincinnati. He will continue to be targeted as the number one receiving option in this offense. Rookie Tee Higgins lately has come in favor with this coaching staff. As he continues to get more playing time, he will also continue to receive a solid amount of targets. Boyd becomes a reliable WR2 for the rest of the season and Tee Higgins becomes a flex worthy start every week.
Diontae Johnson, Wide Receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers
An injury riddled year continues to Diontae Johnson. The second week in a row, not including the unexpected bye week, that Diontae left the game and never returned. Fantasy managers were left disappointed again when Johnson left Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a back injury.
The most frustrating part was that Diontae got injured on a punt return and not even an offensive snap. It is still unclear the extent of Johnson’s injury. The original update we got about the injury during the game that he was questionable to return only to later be ruled out. As of right now, fantasy managers are in the dark about Johnson’s status for week 6. It will be key to monitor practice reports this week for Johnson’s availability. If he gets even a limited participant in practice tag, Johnson has a good chance to suit up Sunday against the Browns.
In Johnson’s absence, rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool had a breakout game. Claypool had 7 receptions for 110 yards and three receiving touchdowns. To accompany his three receiving touchdowns, he also had a rushing touchdown. Claypool looked great, however, Claypool has not received the targets to make him a reliable starter each week when Johnson is on the field. Johnson has looked great in the little time he has been on the field so far.
James Washington is still consistently getting more snaps then Claypool. Claypool is an add to your bench, however, don’t be too confident starting him whenever Johnson is on the field. If Johnson does miss Sunday, the Steelers play the Cleveland Browns, who have given up points to the wide receiver position. Claypool can be a low end flex option while JuJu becomes a solid WR2 start.
DJ Chark, Wide Receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars
DJ Chark limped off the field in the fourth quarter of Week 5 after a disappointing fantasy day with an ankle injury. He did not return to the game as the Jaguars were down and looked out of reach. Chark was seen in a walking boot after the game which usually isn’t a great sign. Walking boots could also be used for precautionary reasons and the injury won’t lead to any missed time. Chark has been labeled as day-to-day, which leads me to believe that the walking boot is more for precautionary reasons. However, with the Jaguars seemingly playing for the future this season, I would not be surprised to see the Jaguars sit their star receiver until he is fully healthy. If he misses a week, it is unfortunate as he has already missed a week with a chest injury.
Rookie wide receiver Collin Johnson received extended playing time in Chark’s absence. Johnson, however, will not be a reliable starting fantasy asset even if Chark misses a game. The main beneficiary if Chark misses time with injury is another rookie wide receiver. Laviska Shenault Jr has already been involved when Chark is healthy. Whether it’s in the passing game or even the rushing attack, Shenault is an explosive player on an offense looking for playmakers other than DJ Chark. Chark missed week three this year and in that game Shenault was a disappointment, leaving me skeptical to play him even as a flex if Chark misses Sunday’s game against the Lions. James Robinson will be the only fantasy option on the Jaguars I would be comfortable starting if Chark is out with this ankle injury.
Dak Prescott, Quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys
This injury pains me to write about. Not only is it a gruesome season ending injury, it’s too a player who is well respected and loved. I am not a Dallas Cowboys fan, but I do love Dak Prescott the player and the person. If you aren’t on social media or are completely living under a rock, Dak Prescott got tackled and rolled up on. It is very clear from the video that Dak dislocated his ankle. It was then confirmed when Dak was transported to the hospital that he also suffered a compound fracture.
Dak is now out for the year, ending what was on pace for a historic year for the quarterback. Depending on how well Dak progresses through the rehab process, Dak will be pushing to try to get back by the start of next year. Since it was a compound fracture, the risk of infection does increase as there was an open wound combined with the surgical procedure. Hopefully, the road to recovery is smooth for Dak and there are no setbacks. Unfortunately, this was a contract year for Dak. Hopefully he will still get paid the amount he should even after a devastating injury like this.
Let’s get into the fantasy impact of this. Obviously, Dak will not be started. Fortunately for Dallas pass catchers, Andy Dalton is the next man up and is a borderline starting quarterback in this league. You can still have confidence in the Dallas offense to be able to move the ball down the field and score some points. However, I don’t believe Dalton can consistently provide three fantasy wide receivers with value each week.
Dalton went to Micheal Gallup when the game mattered down the stretch. Amari Cooper is the consistent WR1 for the team. CeeDee Lamb has looked amazing so far this season. Who will be the consistent pass catchers in this offense? We will have to wait and see who Dalton favors. The one thing we do know is that Dalton Schultz was completely uninvolved with Dalton under center. Schultz becomes a TE2 at best now with Dak gone.
Dalvin Cook, Running Back for the Minnesota Vikings
Dalvin Cook was on pace to put up a monster fantasy day against the Seattle Seahawks until early in the 3rd quarter when he left the field holding his groin. He finished the game with 17 carries for 65 yards and a touchdown. Cook had a solid fantasy day, but what could have been if Cook stayed in the game was the number one running back on the week. Alexander Mattison filled in very well in Cook’s absence. Mattison totaled over 100 yards on the ground on 20 carries, all essentially in the second half when Cook went down.
Cook’s groin injury does not appear to be serious. Cook even tried to come back in the game, taking one snap before deciding to call it a day. Monitor practice reports this week to see if he is participating. I would not count out Cook from playing this upcoming week, however, I would expect Cook to miss a game due to the risk of reinjury if he were to play right away.
If Dalvin Cook misses anytime even if it is only for a week, Mattison is a must add and start against the Atlanta Falcons in week six. Atlanta’s defense has been just as bad, if not worse, then the defense Mattison just ran for over 100 yards on.
Where it gets tricky, kind of, is if Cook is actually active for Sunday’s game. There will be risk of reinjury for Cook if he is active and playing. There’s also a chance that Cook is active but doesn’t get his usual workload. Either way, Atlanta’s defense is bad enough for me to be confident in whoever is playing running back against them. The Falcons let up 19.6 half point per reception points to Aaron Jones in week four followed up by 25.4 half point per reception points to Mike Davis in week five. Both players will be fantasy relevant if they are both active.
Keenan Allen, Wide Receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers
After a spectacular play from quarterback Justin Herbert that led to a Keenan Allen touchdown, Allen injured his back that kept him out of the game. Allen was seen on the sidelines trying to get his back stretched out before he was officially ruled out. He suffered lower back spasm after his touchdown catch in the first quarter. It was unfortunate to see as he looked primed for a big game. Rookie quarterback Justin Herbert was throwing the ball really well and getting his receivers involved. Allen reportedly wanted to get back into the game before Head Coach Anthony Lynn said there was no way he was gonna get back in the game.
Luckily for the Chargers, the reshuffling of the schedule due to the postponement of the Broncos/Patriots game because of COVID, this gives the Chargers a week six bye week. Having a week six bye week means Allen gets two weeks to rest his back. I expect him to not miss any more time with this back issue even if the Chargers played week six. Expect Allen to be back week seven against Jacksonville.
The emergence of quarterback Justin Herbert makes me excited for Allen and what he can be in the future. Herbert does make some rookie mistakes leading to interceptions but that doesn’t affect Allen’s fantasy stock. Herbert seems more than willing to push the ball down the field to Allen and Mike Williams. Both players seem to be start-worthy fantasy options going forward as long as they are both healthy and Herbert is the quarterback.
