Fantasy Football Injury Report (Week 2)

Every Monday during the NFL season, the Injury Report goes through the injuries around the NFL position-by-position as they relate to your season-long fantasy football teams. 

Friday Update

Lions running back D’Andre Swift practiced Friday after missing the last two days due to an ankle injury. He’s listed as questionable, but seems set on playing. Swift said he rolled his ankle early in the Week 1 game against Philadelphia, but it didn’t have much of an impact on him as he had 144 rushing yards on 15 carries. Lions head coach Dan Campbell described Swift as “probably questionable,” which I believe indicates Swift is on the right side of questionable this week. 

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said about wide receiver Chris Godwin playing Sunday, “If I had to guess, he probably wouldn’t.” Godwin appears to be on the wrong side of questionable this week. 

Buccaneers wide receivers Mike Evans (calf) and Julio Jones (knee) both returned to practice Friday and seem ready to suit up this weekend. Obviously these two will see a few more targets if Godwin isn’t out there with them Sunday. 

The Bengals expect wide receiver Tee Higgins to play this week after leaving Week 1’s game against the Steelers with a concussion, according to ESPN’s Ed Werder. Higgins missed practice Thursday to attend his father’s funeral so his absence this week was unrelated to injury. Higgins was a full participant in practice Friday. 

Giants wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson is “clearly not playing” this week, according to the Daily News’ Giants beat writer Pat Leonard. Robinson was seen at Thursday’s practice working on the side with a trainer, though he had a brace on his knee and wasn’t doing any running, according to ESPN’s Giants beat writer Jordan Raanan. He wasn’t in uniform at Friday’s practice. Sterling Shepard seems to be the receiver who benefits the most from Robinson missing the game this week, though if Kadarius Toney can get on the field for a full load of snaps that would be even better. Can’t recommend trusting that in season-long formats at this point, though. Shepard is certainly in play as a WR3/flex this week. 

Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman is questionable this week with a quad injury that popped up on Wednesday. The Colts have ruled out wide receiver Alec Pierce, potentially opening up more opportunities for Parris Campbell. 

49ers general manager John Lynch said tight end George Kittle will be a game-time decision this week. Kittle hasn’t practiced all week, so you’ll need to have a backup plan in place. Better yet, Kittle being active should be your backup plan this week. 

Original Injury Breakdown

Quarterback

I’m hoping for the sake of signal-callers around the NFL that we’ll be skipping this section most weeks, but alas there’s a major quarterback injury to discuss. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will have surgery on his right thumb and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. That’s not good news for anyone in Dallas, but especially bad news for the fantasy prospects of pass-catchers CeeDee Lamb, Dalton Schultz and Michael Gallup in upcoming weeks. All of them have to be downgraded without Prescott out there. Cooper Rush will take over the starting quarterback job for now. Rush has very little starting experience, as his only NFL start came last year when Prescott missed a game with a calf strain. He impressed in that game, though, throwing for 325 yards and two touchdowns against the Vikings on Sunday Night Football. Rush isn’t someone to rush out and pick up in one-quarterback leagues, but he certainly needs to be added in all two-quarterback and superflex leagues this week. 

Running Back

San Francisco 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell suffered a knee injury during the game against the Bears Sunday. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game that he thought there was a chance Mitchell would come back in the game before he was ruled out, according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. That might bode well for Mitchell’s return, but without more information we’d only be speculating. Jeff Wilson saw all the snaps at running back for the 49ers after Mitchell left the game and should be a priority pickup in all formats. Tyrion Davis-Price was inactive for this game and could steal some snaps away from Wilson next week. Jordan Mason is another option in this backfield and could work his way into the mix over the next few weeks. 

Steelers RB Najee Harris “should be fine” after an ankle injury, which is “not serious,” according to Jordan Schultz. Harris was seen leaving the Steelers locker room in a walking boot. Jaylen Warren played every snap at running back for Pittsburgh after Harris left the game. Warren is a priority pickup in all formats. Harris already dealt with a foot injury in training camp. The most telling part of Schultz’s tweet is that he said the Steelers are hoping Harris can play in Week 2. That doesn’t necessarily mean he will. 

Falcons backup RB Damien Williams left the game with a rib injury. With Tyler Allgeier inactive, this led to Cordarrelle Patterson seeing 25 touches, his biggest workload since coming to the Falcons.

Wide Receiver

Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin left Sunday night’s game with a hamstring injury. It seemed like Godwin was on the wrong side of questionable all week, but he made his return from an ACL tear only to leave the game with a hamstring injury this time. There’s no set timetable for Godwin’s return as of yet, but it’s likely he’ll miss multiple weeks. Stock up for Mike Evans, Julio Jones and Russell Gage in the near-term. 

Bengals WR Tee Higgins left Sunday’s game with a concussion. There’s no timetable for his return, but check back later in the week as he tries to clear the league’s concussion protocol to get back on the field. 

Chargers WR Keenan Allen said he can “possibly” go Week 2 after suffering a hamstring injury on Sunday, but on a short week it’s a “small possibly,” according to ESPN’s Lindsay Thiry. The Chargers play the Chiefs this Thursday, and it seems like there’s a good chance they’ll be without Allen, who went directly to the blue medical tent after the injury Sunday. Mike Williams, Joshua Palmer and Gerald Everett will see increased opportunities if Allen can’t suit up. 

Giants WR Wan’Dale Robinson left Sunday’s game with a knee injury, but he says it’s not serious. That’s good news for Robinson, who is worth picking up in any formats where he might be dropped. The Giants new coaching staff drafted Robinson, not Kadarius Toney, who despite being the team’s best receiver barely saw the field Sunday even after Robinson was injured. As long as Robinson is healthy, I’d expect him to play ahead of Toney. 

Be sure to check back for the Friday update and hit us up in the FTN Fantasy Football discord with any additional injury questions.