Injury Recap: Week 4
While no one wants it to happen, each week players are bound to go down with injuries. In each weekly Injury Recap article, we will go over the fantasy relevant players that got injured, how significant each injury is, and which players will benefit/suffer from this injury.
Leonard Fournette (RB, Jacksonville Jaguars)
Injury: Hamstring, Pulled Hamstring
Leonard Fournette has arguably been one of the most frustrating players to own so far in fantasy, and the recent status of his hamstring will continue to cause headaches for fantasy owners. After taking two weeks off to help heal his hamstring, Fournette tweaked it again and had to exit Sunday’s game. It’s likely that he misses next week and potentially the week after that while he tries to get back to full health. T.J. Yeldon will see the majority of snaps in his absence, while Corey Grant should also see increased playing time.
T.Y. Hilton (WR, Indianapolis Colts)
Injury: Hamstring, Pulled Hamstring
T.Y. Hilton had to leave the game against the Texans in the fourth quarter after his hamstring flared up. After the game, Head Coach Frank Reich said that Hilton will miss Week 5’s game against the Patriots on Thursday night. In his absence, Ryan Grant and Chester Rodgers should be Andrew Luck’s top receivers for week 5.
Will Fuller V (WR, Houston Texans)
Injury: Hamstring, Pulled Hamstring
Will Fuller V is familiar with injury issues, and he sustained another one on Sunday to his hamstring. While Head Coach Bill O’Brien suggested that he could have went back into the game, it is concerning that Fuller was dealing with hamstring issues during the preseason and into week 1. His availability next week is essentially a toss up, but in his absence expect rookie Keke Coutee to put up fantasy relevant numbers after putting up big numbers in Fuller’s absence last game.
Geronimo Allison (WR, Green Bay Packers)
Injury: Head, Concussion
Geronimo Allison had to exit the Packers matchup vs the Bills on Sunday due to a concussion. He will remain in concussion protocol for at least most of his week, with the potential to miss the next game. If Allison and Randall Cobb are unavailable to play next week, Aaron Rodgers could suffer due to the lack of reliable options in the passing game. In this case, Davante Adams and Jimmy Graham would likely see increased opportunities as two experienced pass-catchers.
Rob Gronkowski (TE, New England Patriots)
Injury: Ankle, undisclosed
Rob Gronkowski entered the Dolphins game with a questionable designation thanks to an ankle injury, and he later left the game with an ankle injury. His status for week 5 is still unclear, but it does not look good considering the Patriots are on a short week, playing on Thursday night. The Patriots were already up 38-7 on the Dolphins when he left, so it’s possible that he could have returned to the game but didn’t to avoid aggravating the injury. Whatever the injury is, it isn’t serious enough to rule him out for weeks, but it’s likely Gronk deals with this injury for a couple games before it’s back to full health.
Tyler Eifert (TE, Cincinnati Bengals)
Injury: Ankle, Broken ankle
Tyler Eifert will miss the rest of the regular season with a broken ankle. Eifert, a talented but injury prone player, has faced yet another setback, meaning that Dalton will lose a key target in his offense. Despite Tyler Kroft’s success replacing Eifert last year, it will likely be C.J. Uzomah who sees the biggest uptick in fantasy production, as Uzomah has seen more snaps and targets through the first 3 weeks of the season. Dalton still has plenty of weapons to rely on outside of tight end, so Uzomah is by no means a must start now that Eifert is out for the year.
O.J. Howard (TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Injury: Knee, MCL Sprain
O.J. Howard is set to miss 2-4 weeks with a sprained MCL. Luckily, he is on bye next week anyways which should give him plenty of time to go home to rehab, but it is still likely that he misses the Bucs’ week 6 matchup. In Howard’s absence, Cameron Brate should be considered a TE1 due to his knack for finding the endzone in a high powered offense
Will Dissly (TE, Seattle Seahawks)
Injury: Knee, Torn Patellar Tendon
To add to the group of tight ends that were injured this week, Will Dissly suffered a torn Patellar Tendon early in the game against the Cardinals. He will miss the remainder of the season after getting off to a hot start with touchdowns in each of the Seahawks’ first two games. In the wake of this injury, it will likely be Nick Vannett who steps in to fill the empty role as starting TE.