Washington is banged up at RB... 🤕

So that was another crazy weekend of football. Courtland Sutton has been on a heater, Justin Jefferson went cold, and Jaylen Waddle was reborn against the Patriots! Check out this week’s top performers pending tonight’s huge MNF showdown between the Ravens and the Chargers 👀

• Commanders RBs Brian Robinson (ankle), Austin Ekeler (concussion) unable to finish game vs Cowboys

  • Robinson was in and out of the game very early with his ankle injury, but was ultimately relegated to the sideline before the end of the first half. Meanwhile, Austin Ekeler played most of the game before suffering a concussion late in the game that required him to be sent to the hospital out of caution. At any rate, it seems like both running backs are very much in danger of missing next week’s Week 13 bout with the Titans, particularly Ekeler. He’ll have to clear the NFL’s concussion protocol before returning to play, and with Robinson also being unable to return to the game (and the Commanders bye coming up in Week 14), it’s possible that the Commanders just shut down their top-2 ballcarriers to have them ready for the stretch run starting in Week 15. That leaves the oft-used breather back Jeremy McNichols atop the depth chart in Washington’s backfield as the potential primary runner against the Titans. It’s likely that Washington calls up RB Chris Rodriguez to work alongside McNichols, but McNichols will be worth a relatively high waiver wire target for teams in need of a running back. Time will tell as we get further into the week what we should expect, but fantasy managers should be prepared for the next two weeks to be without Robinson Jr. and Ekeler on a Commanders offense that’s struggled as of late relative to how well it was playing earlier in the season.

• Lions RB David Montgomery (shoulder) exits game vs Colts in second half, doesn’t return

  • Montgomery suffered the injury in the third quarter and left the field briefly to head to the locker room. He ended up returning to the field in full uniform, which was a good sign – although he didn’t re-enter the game the rest of the way with it already comfortably in hand. Asked about the injury after the game, Montgomery said that he was withheld from returning by HC Dan Campbell, but felt that he could have gotten back into the game if it were necessary. That’s great news for Montgomery’s fantasy managers, who still were able to walk away from Sunday’s game happy thanks to an earlier touchdown to save his fantasy day. For as cheery and optimistic as the reports seem to be right now for Montgomery, fantasy managers shouldn’t get too comfortable – the Lions face a very short four-day turnaround with their next game against the Bears on Thanksgiving. That short turnaround has the potential to turn what normally would be a few days off of practice during the week and an active status on Sunday into a questionable designation early this week and a potentially limited role on Thursday. If that would be the case, Jahmyr Gibbs would pick up any available slack in Lions backfield. That potential added work could push Gibbs into the high-end RB1 territory, but pay attention to practice reports this week to see just how limited (if at all) Montgomery is.

• Raiders QB Gardner Minshew suffers broken collarbone in Week 12 loss to Broncos, expected to miss rest of season

  • Minshew wasn’t in any starting lineups besides the most desperate over the past few weeks, but his primary impact has been in sustaining fantasy relevance for the Raiders’ top two pass catchers: Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers. Desmond Ridder entered the game late to close things out after Minshew immediately left the field for the locker room, and unlike three weeks ago, he was unable to salvage Bowers’ day with a late garbage time TD. The outlook without Minshew is bleak, as it’s unlikely that Desmond Ridder will be able to provide the same level of borderline serviceable QB play in his stead. With a matchup against the Chiefs on deck in Week 13, Meyers and Bowers will both receive notable downgrades. The wild card in this situation? The potential return of QB Aidan O’Connell, who has been out of the lineup since Week 8. He’s set to potentially return to the starting lineup this week, per HC Antonio Pierce, although he’ll face an uphill battle towards getting cleared to play on a short week; the Raiders are slated to play on Black Friday against the Chiefs. Regardless, a return from O’Connell would be a welcome development to spare us from an afternoon of watching Desmond Ridder under center.