Injury Expectations | Thursday Update | Week 17

Photo: Michael Chow, USA Today Sports

KEY THURSDAY MEDIA UPDATES

>>>> Note: Due to travel and time constraints over the next two weeks, the table will include offensive skill position players only.

Week 17 is an unusual week for injury analysis. Some teams and players choose not to risk playing through nagging and serious injuries they may otherwise have gutted through. Other players continue to play through to reach team and individual goals. Some teams choose to rest players in anticipation of more important playoff games to come. Other teams continue to play starters to keep continuity in the weekly routine. Unfortunately, we don't always know which players and which teams fall into which bucket.

Here's what we do know after Thursday's practice and media sessions:

***Philadelphia, Jacksonville, and Kansas City are locked into their current playoff seeding. Doug Marrone has told reporters he will not rest starters. Kansas City will start Pat Mahomes over Alex Smith at quarterback. I think it's likely the key starters on all three teams will see fewer snaps than usual.

***The Rams will not start Jared Goff or Todd Gurley. Goff will be active -- he's the only other quarterback currently on the roster -- but will play only in an emergency. On Thursday, Sean McVay told the media Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, and Cooper Kupp will not play much. Kupp has yet to practice with a knee injury and is obviously doubtful at best.

***It's not been confirmed but Pittsburgh offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert told reporters Ben Roethlisberger and LeVeon Bell will be inactive. A Pittsburgh win and New England loss would give the Steelers home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, so I'm not willing to bank on Gilbert being correct yet.

I'll continue to update this list as it changes.

***DeAndre Hopkins is now considered unlikely to play through a calf injury according to local media. Bill O'Brien told reporters the team wouldn't decide on Hopkins' status until game time.

***Anthony Lynn told reporters Melvin Gordon would only participate in the walkthrough on Thursday and would return to a limited practice on Friday. It still appears the Chargers are planning to start Gordon this week.

***A day after telling reporters he has been playing with knee tendinitis for much of the season, Dez Bryant was held out of practice. I still lean toward Bryant playing but will be watching his Friday practice participation closely.

The Wednesday and Thursday practice participation reports are our first chance to see which players each NFL team are limiting in practice after the previous week's games. Players limited in mid-week practice aren't necessarily in danger of missing that week's game. But they all need to be watched closely.

Follow me on Twitter @JeneBramel for breaking injury news and analysis throughout the week.