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Injury Updates for 1st Round of Playoffs š
Plus, is Philip Rivers actually going to make a comeback? š³


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Your roundup of everything you need to know regarding injuries around the league going into Week 11:
D.K. Metcalf (stomach) - should be able to play After posting a season-high 148 receiving yards against the Ravens in the win this past Sunday, Metcalf remained in Baltimore after the game and overnight after taking a shot to the lower body that caused him internal pain. He has since returned to Pittsburgh and is with the team once again, and HC Mike Tomlin says that Metcalf āshouldā be able to play in Week 15 against the Dolphins on Monday night. Monitoring practice reports will be necessary given the ambiguous nature of the injury, but it sounds like heā currently trending in the right direction heading into the first round of the fantasy playoffs. Heād profile as a WR3 play against a Dolphins secondary thatās been stingy against receivers when it comes to production this season.
Jayden Daniels (elbow) - sore, no long-term concerns with the elbow, Dan Quinn noncommital on him playing (also mention Ertz) HC Dan Quinn told reporters that while thereās no ālong-term concernā surrounding Danielsā re-aggravated elbow injury, he still declined to make an assessment of the quarterbackās game day availability for Week 15ās divisional showdown against the Giants. If it feels like weāve been here before, itās because this is a carbon copy of the same situation Daniels and his managers faced this past week heading into the Vikings game ā and with the season officially lost, itās fair to wonder whether or not Washington will throw their franchise QB back out into the fray with nothing to gain. Given the uncertainty of the situation, fantasy managers shouldnāt count on having Daniels for the fantasy playoffs and instead should turn their attention back to Marcus Mariota, who has been a capable streaming option since taking over thanks to his rushing chops.
Tee Higgins (concussion) - Higgins returned in Week 14 against the Bills from a concussion that held him out for two games, exited the game to be evaluated for a concussion, returned, caught a touchdown, exited to be evaluated again for a concussion, returned again, caught another touchdown, and then was placed in the concussion protocol the day after on Monday. The handling of the situation was questionable at best ā especially given the fact that Higgins was visibly shaken up both times exiting the field ā but allowed him to come through with 27 PPR points for fantasy managers who were counting on his help to push for the playoffs. Hopefully if you had him, you earned a bye thanks to his performance; entering the protocol on Monday is almost a guarantee that a player misses the game the following week, but who knows - he could return earlier than expected just like he did on Sunday. If Higgins is out, JaāMarr Chase would be the primary focus of the passing offense once again, while Andrei Iosivas and Mitchell Tinsley would both be desperate, desperate flex plays against the Ravens.

Drake London (knee) - day-to-day, no practice Monday Another week, another no-show for the Falcons top wide receiver at practice since suffering a PCL injury last month. He has yet to even practice in a limited fashion since going down, and with the Falcons set to take on the Buccaneers on a short week this Thursday, things are already getting late early for London and his fantasy managers who hoped to start him in the first week of the fantasy playoffs. Without London in the lineup, no Falcons WR has capitalized on the opportunity to earn more targets ā instead, backup QB Kirk Cousins has relied on Kyle Pitts as his top target, who is (almost comically) having one of his best stretches of games with the Falcons squarely out of the playoff hunt and down their top quarterback.
WRs Mike Evans (collarbone) and Jalen McMillan (neck) - While itās not a guarantee that Mike Evans will return Thursday night, reports indicate that Evans was practicing all week last week and logged an estimated limited practice on Monday in anticipation of a comeback in Week 15. Evans is a long way from cracking 1000 yards to keep his streak alive, but he should return to WR1 duties upon re-entering the lineup considering the disappointing run Emeka Egbuka and co. have been on since opening the season on fire. Godwin also returned to a full-time role in his third game back from injury, so thereās a chance that if Evenas does go, heās on a snap count ā but Evans would still be worth a start in WR2/WR3/flex spots with some upside against a bumbling Falcons team. With Jalen McMillan also eyeing a return Thursday, as well, things could get messy once again in a crowded Buccaneers WR room. All three of the Egbuka, Evans, and Godwin would be worth looks, while McMillan is unlikely to be a factor despite making noise in his rookie year.
RB DeāVon Achane (ribs) - Achane played roughly a half of football in Week 14 before leaving the game with a rib injury, but he delivered 17 PPR points for his managers in what was likely a playoff-saving performance for many. HC Mike McDaniel said Monday that Achane could have returned in an emergency and that there is no concern of any damage to his ribs, and that Achane himself was reportedly feeling good. With an RB of his caliber, itās important to monitor the practice reports regardless of how positive this news is, but it would likely be safe to assume that if Achane practices this week, heāll be ready to go for Week 15ās MNF matchup against the Steelers. The fact that Miami plays on Monday could be problematic if Achaneās status is seemingly up in the air at all, but weāll cross the bridge when we get there. If Achane would miss for whatever reason, Jaylen Wright would be the preferred flex start while Ollie Gordon would be a deep stash and play.
Colts sign veteran QB Philip Rivers out of retirement to practice squad with Daniel Jones done for the year after tearing Achilles in Week 14
Will this turn around a season that went from 100 to 0 in a matter of four games and an Achilles injury to their starting quarterback? Probably not. Will we be heating up our popcorn and sitting back to bask in whatever the hell it is that happens next? You bet. Rivers hasnāt started a game in the NFL - or likely participated in any form of official practice - since 2020, and heād be coming off the couch to face a Seahawks defense that has been swarming this season. With Jones officially out for the year and backup QB Riley Leonard potentially unavailable with a knee injury (and for anyone counting at home, Anthony Richardson also still on IR), desperate times have called for desperate measures for the Colts front office. Itāll be hard to trust any of the Coltsā pass catchers if Rivers does wind up starting a game for Indianapolis, but it offers more hope than the team starting emergency QB Tyler Warren or backup Brett Rypien. As unfathomable as this scenario seems, part of us wants to see where it goes. Rivers, who was last seen throwing for 4100 yards and 24 touchdowns in the final year of his career (or so we thought), would be a last resort option for teams in need of a quarterback.

Joe Burrow is back like he never left, and Daniel Jones is out for the year with a torn Achilles⦠Faraz breaks down everything you need to know about this past weekendās action and projects ahead!

Joe Burrow is right back to being a must-start
Going against a Bills team giving up the fewest yards and 2nd-fewest TDs to opposing QBs and coming out with 284 yards and 4 TDs tells you everything you need to know. It definitely was far from a perfect game from Burrow, and JaāMarr Chase didnāt have the day we wouldāve liked, but at least Tee Higgins came through with 6 catches for 92 yards and 2 TDs on a team-leading 11 targets. With all the attention going Chaseās away, even Mike Gesicki got in on the action, catching all 6 of his targets for 86 yards and a TD. I wouldnāt be chasing this on waivers given his 45% route participation.
Jayden Reed hits the ground running in return
Reed didnāt waste any time ramping up, as he stepped right into a full-time slot role, running 82% of his routes from the slot. Reedās previous inconsistencies stemmed from the Packers not running a lot of 3-WR sets, but without Tucker Kraft, we could see more 3-WR sets than weāre used to seeing from this offense moving forward. While Christian Watson absolutely went nuts with limited opportunity (4/4/89/2), Reed tied the team-high in targets and got some work on the ground (4/4/31, 2 carries for 22 yards). Reed is still available in 47% of Sleeper leagues, and is in the WR3/flex conversation moving forward.
Daniel Jones tore his Achilles :(
The most significant injury of the week has a ton of ramifications for fantasy football. First of all, Jonesā success this year was a great story, and for it to end this way just sucks. First off, the Colts entire offense takes a hit. Defenses had to play balanced, as Jones was happy to throw it deep. Now, weāre likely to see more stacked boxes to stop Jonathan Taylor. Riley Leonard did a solid job getting the ball to the receivers we care about; Alec Pierce finished with 5 for 80, while Pittman came down with 9 of his 12 targets for 79 yards (10/8/63 from Leonard); both WRs had almost-TDs from Leonard. The hope is that Leonard can at least keep this offense afloat, and I will be willing to start Pittman and Pierce given what we saw on Sunday, but we have to downgrade them a bit. Keep in mind that Leonard has rushing chops in case youāre in need of a QB.
R.J. Harvey carving out more and more of a role
Coming into Week 14, RJ Harvey had a solid role in the two weeks after JK Dobbins went down with a 53% snap share and 38% route participation (3 targets each week). On Sunday, his snap share grew to 68%, while his route participation went up to 60% - that led to him catching 6 of 6 targets for 25 yards. He also had all three goal line snaps for Denver, too. Harvey was the RB2 overall in Week 13, and has a chance of finishing Top-5 once again this week pending MNF. Harvey has a tough rest of season schedule, but he would still upgrade to a high-end RB2 if this role sticks.
Chris Godwin is back to a full time role, and help is on the wayā¦
Emeka Egbuka leads the Bucs with 9 targets, but he only came down with TWO of them for 15 yards. He couldāve had a walk-in TD, but he couldnāt come down with a high pass from Baker Mayfield (he shouldāve caught it). Godwin had only one less target than Egbuka, but caught 5 of them for 55 yards; he ran the same number of routes as Egbuka did this week. Mike Evans could be back on Thursday night against the Falcons, which would get the gang fully back together. Evans could go back to profiling as the #1 WR, while Egbuka takes advantage of easier coverage to be a better fantasy asset the rest of the way. One can hope, no?
