The dominos are falling, and players are dropping like flies. Many big names have been seen inside the medical tent this year, and week 8 is no different. Between injuries and overall scoring being way down, managers have been left scrambling. The crazy is not finished yet, though. With the trade deadline coming up this week, it feels like we will have more shake-ups than ever before. As always, Brian Scott is here to assist with how we can look ahead at some of these situations.

Ryan Tannehill

Andrew Leduc: A quarterback who often does not miss games since being in Tennessee, did you see anything that suggested we should be worried about his availability this week?

Brian Scott, MEd, PA-C, ATC-ret: One thing that did worry me was the fact that he was seen leaving the game in a walking boot and had it on up until Wednesday this week. He returned to practice Thursday in a limited fashion but was reported as feeling much better. He could potentially play this weekend. I would be paying very close attention to this as it develops. Without a full practice session, I think we might see rookie Malik Willis. Low ankle sprains are usually not as severe as high ankle sprains. The boot was likely precautionary and to help get the swelling down. He did play through the injury after having taped up and missed only one offensive snap. These are all good signs that it was not that serious. With plenty of season still to go, it might be wise to give him more time to rest.

Prognosis: Ryan Tannehill has been pretty mediocre so far this season. The loss of AJ Brown has obviously had an effect on his ceiling. Now throwing to either aging veterans or young rookies, there is not a ton of excitement or upside here. With that being said, he has been a safe option to this point. If Tannehill does not play this weekend and Willis gets the start, things could get messy. Malik Willis would just need to perform even with Tannehill, and Vrabel might stick with the young gun. If you are a Tannehill owner, I would be very hesitant about the future. I would look to trade for or pick up a solid backup plan for the rest of the season.

Deebo Samuel

Andrew Leduc: Coming out of this past week’s game with a hamstring injury and so far not practicing this week, is Samuel slated to miss some time?

Brian Scott, MEd, PA-C, ATC-ret: Deebo has missed two practices already this week with a hamstring injury from this past weekend.  Skilled position players, i.e., receivers and runningbacks, are typically the players who deal with these injuries. As we have seen this season with other elite wide receivers, there is no telling how long this could linger. The best thing is to get it right and not rush him back on the field. I do not think we see him suit up this weekend without a limited practice. Even then, I would be reluctant to start him or give him any meaningful playing time.

Prognosis: With Deebo Samuel slated to miss at least a week, look for Brandon Aiyuk to be the immediate and obvious benefactor here. Someone else who has shown to be effective is Jauan Jennings. Jennings, already seeing roughly 4 targets a game, should get some more looks this week before the BYE week. I still do not think Christian McCaffery gets a 100% workload of what we can expect from him after the week off. Jennings is someone you can most likely get off the waiver wire or play for cheap in DFS.

Christian Watson

Andrew Leduc: Has Watson had enough time to heal up after a re-aggravation of his hamstring to bring some relief to Aaron Rodgers?

Brian Scott, MEd, PA-C, ATC-ret: As we have written several times already this season, hamstring injuries take a long time to recover from and can very easily be re-aggravated. Often players feel much better, but in actuality, they are still weak and lack strength and flexibility. That is why these injuries are really tricky to treat (no pun intended this Halloween). He has logged two limited practices this week. Until I hear about him having a full practice, I am not optimistic we see him return this week.

Prognosis: As Brian stated above, we have talked a lot about hamstring injuries this year. It seems to be the injury of choice this season. For the Green Bay Packers, we are seeing an absolute collapse. The inability to run the ball has crippled the passing offense. With adjusting to life without Davante Adams, Randall Cobb being hurt, and now Allen Lazard being injured, they need options. This feels like a situation where even if Watson is still only 80% ready, they bring him back in desperation. If Watson plays, I look for him to be involved in both run plays and passing plays.

Ja’Mar Chase

Andrew Leduc: Chase shocked managers yesterday with the report of the severity of his hip injury. He is slated to miss time and possibly hit the IR. Can we expect to see him after his BYE week?

Brian Scott, MEd, PA-C, ATC-ret: This has all the makings of a very long time away from the field. He aggravated the hip this past weekend but had actually injured it back in week 6.  He apparently saw a specialist on Monday. My biggest concern is that he is dealing with a labrum injury to that hip. Often players will try to play through this but eventually succumb and end up having surgery. We see these types of injuries a lot in hockey players. In fact, Brad Marchand had both his hips surgically repaired this offseason due to labrum injuries. The Bengals already have said that he is on a 4-6 week timetable to return. This tells me that it is not your average hip injury. A trip to the IR could still be in the works here. Let’s hope it is not as serious as it could be.

Prognosis: After a monster week, this definitely lets the air out of his production for managers. It sounds like we may not see Ja’Mar Chase back until a fantasy playoff run. Tee Higgins is the obvious promotion in this offense. Tyler Boyd is not far behind him, but both are most likely owned. Let’s take a look at some other options for Mike Thomas. Thomas is the clear next man up if you ask me in an offense that has kept their #3 wide receiver in Tyler Boyd relevant. I am not expecting big things here, but Thomas is worth a stash in an explosive offense, with both Higgins and Boyd having injury histories and concerns of their own. Other names to watch are Trent Taylor and Stanley Morgan.

Nico Collins

Andrew Leduc: Initial reports from the team is that he is out for this week but not for the season. Do you think he goes on IR in the coming weeks?

Brian Scott, MEd, PA-C, ATC-ret: Collins has missed two practices this week already with a groin injury and although it appears that it is not season-ending, I do think we will not see him this week and possibly next. Groin injuries in football are not nearly as debilitating as in a sport like hockey, where the motion of skating uses the groin much more vigorously. For that reason, I do think we could see him back in a few weeks, but like hamstring injuries, until you test it out, you never truly know.

Prognosis: Nico Collins was slated for a breakout year with upbeat quarterback Davis Mills at the helm. Plagued by injury and inefficient passing, that has not been the case. The emergence of Dameon Pierce has also stolen the show a bit in the Texans’ offense, deservedly so. To me, Nico Collins has been and continues to be droppable. This offense needs to prove it can hit a higher gear for me to be thrilled about anyone outside of Pierce.

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