Monday Injury Report Week 2

Photo: Jeff Hanisch, USA Today Sports

How are you feeling? If you find yourself here, your fantasy team might not be holding up so well. Before we even made it to Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season, we witnessed the injuries piling up and in order to stay true to form, the Week 1 slate did not hold back with injuries. Fortunately, I am here to help you. So pull up those bootstraps, and let's dive into these injuries. Your fantasy season is not over after one week. Use the content below to make adjustments.

Key:

(Position) Player | Injury | My Projection for Return to Play

RB J.K. Dobbins | Achilles Tendon Rupture | Injured Reserve (expected) - Season Ending

After a strong finish to the 2022 season that parlayed into a promising start in 2023, J.K. Dobbins' season is very likely to be over. The Ravens' RB should end up on IR.

In Dobbin's absence, Justice Hill broke paydirt twice, but moving forward, one would expect Gus Edwards to be involved. Baltimore also has Melvin Gordon on their practice squad, and free agents Kareem Hunt and Leonard Fournette are always looming. Essentially, if you are going to take a shot on this backfield, there are a lot of options. The main takeaway is that if you roster Dobbins, you're going to have to look elsewhere for running back production.

Let's go a bit further and discuss Dobbins' 2024 outlook. With just the preliminary information that we have, I don't think it's great. Whatever burst his ACL did not take, the Achilles tendon rupture surely won't help. Recently, we witnessed Cam Akers return successfully from an Achilles tendon repair, but Dobbins' build and skill set are different. Hopefully, Dobbins can return at some point, but right now, his outlook is not promising.

Tuesday Update: Dobbins is set to have surgery Friday. Baltimore has officially placed Dobbins on IR. Baltimore has said they are staying in-house with the RB replacement.

WR Jakobi Meyers | Concussion | Projecting Week 3 Return

Jakobi Meyers sustained a nasty blow to the head during a crossing route in Las Vegas' match-up with Denver. You can't grade concussions, and every single concussion is different. The presentation varies, and how a person responds post-concussion is different in each scenario. Since 2017, 62% of wide receivers have missed at least one game following a concussion. Unless Meyers is able to breeze through the post-concussion protocol, I'd expect him to miss at least Week 2 with a better chance of returning in Week 3.

RB Aaron Jones | Hamstring Strain | Projecting Week 3 Return

One a breakaway touchdown run, Aaron Jones reached back and grabbed his left hamstring as he stepped into the end zone. It's never anything Packer or fantasy managers want to see. After the game, Jones hinted that the hamstring injury was not as serious as it was perceived, despite him not returning.

Aaron Jones says he felt his hamstring bite at end of his touchdown catch. He pulled his hamstring before. He says it was nowhere near that bad.

Jones didn't return, but he says score had lot to do with it. He could have if needed, he says.

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) September 11, 2023

Much like wide receivers, running backs also, on average, miss ~3 weeks with a hamstring injury, but if we are taking Jones' word for it, he could be back much sooner.

Follow Green Bay's practice reports this week. 42% of RBs who were listed as Questionable on the final injury report ended up not playing that week.

Tuesday Update: Matthew Schneidman reports that Green Bay HC Matt LaFleur told reporters the team is "evaluating Aaron Jones’ hamstring but that it was encouraging seeing him jogging off the field." LaFleur also "mentioned how Packers had the luxury of not having to use Jones after the injury." That last statement is eyebrow-raising. Even though Jones injury could be minor with A.J Dillion in the backfield and a long 17-game season, the Packers could give Jones a week to heal up.