Perhaps we caught a break this week?

I type this as I cross all my fingers and toes while knocking on wood, but after six teams were on bye last week and with the multitude of injuries we had to monitor, the below article is perhaps the shortest one of the season. In putting it together, I had the feeling of dread that I’m missing clear injury news that transpired out of Week 7, but here we go.

Quarterback

To anyone that has watched Zach Wilson and the Jets play over the first seven weeks of the season, what transpired on Sunday shouldn’t have come as surprise. Well maybe the surprise is that it didn’t happen sooner. The rookie quarterback has barely had a chance set himself to throw down field thanks to a leaky offensive line, and he is now slated to miss the next two to four weeks with a knee injury. Based on what we have seen out of New York’s offense there shouldn’t be much of a fantasy change here with Mike White under center although Wilson is clearly more talented even if he didn’t get a chance to consistently show it. White did throw a touchdown pass to Corey Davis but it’s hard to truly rely on any of the Jets’ skill position players. The Jets did trade for Joe Flacco on Monday to at least provide a veteran presence. 

Sunday went about as bad as it possibly could have for Pat Mahomes other than the fact that he avoided a concussion. Mahomes did exit after being shaken up, but he avoided the dreaded concussion protocol and will be ready to bounce back in what should be a favorable matchup against the Giants this week.

Running Back

Seeing your running back get carted off the field is never a good thing. In this case it was Miles Sanders who has been struggling this season and with just 300 rushing yards and no touchdowns, he has failed to distinguish himself. At this point, Kenneth Gainwell had more potential than the incumbent anyway and stands to benefit from what I would think is a likely Sanders absence; at least for the upcoming week. Gainwell gained a combined 61 yards (20 rushing on five carries and 41 receiving as he caught four of his eight targets) while also catching a touchdown pass and he now has FLEX appeal. We also can’t ignore Boston Scott as he had seven carries for 24 yards and a touchdown last week. This is a situation to monitor as the early indications are that Sanders will be out for at least the next two to three weeks. 

This season has not been easy on Josh Jacobs from a health perspective, so it is a good sign that his chest injury from last week doesn’t appear to be serious. It opened up some additional playing time and success for Kenyan Drake, but the Raiders bye week comes at a perfect time for Jacobs as he can attend to his chest injury as well as the toe and ankle injuries he previously was dealing with. After the bye, Jacobs should be ready to go as he looks to extend his touchdown streak to four games.

With eight carries over three weeks, Malcolm Brown didn’t have the biggest of roles in Miami’s backfield, but with the news that he will be out for at least the next three games, Salvon Ahmed does get a slight bump as he has already been involved behind the streaky Myles Gaskin.

The Jets need all the help they can get, and with Tevin Coleman sidelined, Ty Johnson stepped up as the second option behind the rising Michael Carter. Johnson didn’t do much on the ground, five carries for six yards, but he did catch three passes for 40 yards before exiting with a potential concussion. As the season progresses, this will increasingly be Carter’s backfield, but Johnson could have deep league value if healthy as a safety value for a team that will likely be in a few third and long situations over the next month.

Wide Receiver

Due to the nature of things, we don’t have much in the way of details surrounding Davante Adams and his placement on the COVID-19 list. The bad news though is that Green Bay plays on Thursday this week, and based on that time frame, things don’t look optimistic for Adams. There is the possibility of Marquez Valdes-Scantling returning this week but the clear beneficiary here is likely Allen Lazard with Randall Cobb also seeing an uptick in value.

Washington can’t seem to get ahead in passing game opposite Terry McLaurin and Dyami Brown is the next receiver to exit with injury. Brown is getting an MRI on his knee, and at this point I would plan to be without him for at least this week prior to Washington’s bye week but after catching just three passes for 30 yards two weeks ago (and nothing this week prior to exiting), there isn’t much to see here from a fantasy perspective. We did have an Adam Humphries sighting (36 receiving yards) and Dax Milne was targeted four times but I would keep on scrolling.

Tight End

Darren Waller’s late inactive on Sunday crushed those fantasy managers who weren’t prepared for the possibility, but Foster Moreau did fine job filing in. The understudy caught all six of his targets for 60 yards and a touchdown and with the Raiders on bye this coming week, we should see Waller back in action for Week 9.

One injury situation to watch this week is Jonnu Smith who exited with a shoulder injury after catching two passes for 52 yards on Sunday. Should Smith miss time, Hunter Henry should get a value boost.