Week 5 in the NFL was another wild weekend, with the Packers losing in London to the giants, the Rams still looking hungover from their super bowl victory, and the Broncos still need to figure it out. The week 6 fantasy football injury report is here to help you get past your injury woes. We will look at new and previous injuries for players attempting to return to play.
Week 6 Fantasy Football Injury Report: QBs
Tua Tagovailoa / Teddy Bridgewater
Tua missed week 5 as he continues to recover from a concussion. Bridgewater started for Dolphins but was quickly ruled out due to a concussion in the first quarter of the game. Our team went into detail on concussions in our podcast last week. It was reported that Bridgewater passed all of the tests in the locker room, but he was held out from returning to the game due to the new rules in the NFL. The safety of the players takes priority, and I will not be surprised if we see more and more players being removed from the game with potential concussions.
Long term, it doesn’t sound like Bridgewater will miss any additional time. He should be able to clear the concussion protocol and make it back for week 6. The Dolphins have already stated that they are planning to start Skylar Thompson at QB, even if Bridgewater does clear concussion protocol. As for Tua, we will have to wait and see if he practices throughout the week and how he responds to increased activity. As of now, he has not been cleared for football activities. It is unlikely he will be able to play in week 6.
Mac Jones
Jones will continue to rehab his high ankle sprain heading into week 6. He put in limited practice near the end of last week but was ultimately held out of week 5. Bailey Zappe started for the Patriots, and he did not disappoint. It will be interesting to see how the team handles the QB room going forward. They may decide to take it slower with Mac, given Zappe’s ability to perform in his first NFL start.
Russel Wilson
Wilson appeared to play well in week 4 but regressed right back to his prior performances in week 5. Reports said that Wilson is dealing with a partially torn lat muscle. The Lat (latissimus dorsi) is a large muscle in the back and shoulder. This muscle is certainly involved in the throwing motion and could explain his lack of production thus far.
The lat becomes active in the late cocking phase and assists the arm in the acceleration phase as the shoulder goes into relative internal rotation. Tom does an excellent job discussing how the Lat is involved in the throwing motion in our shoulder strains and sprains injury page. A partial tear in the lat would certainly affect Wilson’s ability to create power with his throws. The pain with each throw would also likely affect his accuracy, especially downfield. Reports state that Wilson had a PRP injection to help heal his shoulder ahead of week 6. Research on PRP injections is questionable at best. Some research shows it may be beneficial in acute muscle tears, while others show it may be detrimental to healing.
Regardless if the PRP injection helps Wilson or not, this will affect Wilson’s shoulder for a few weeks at minimum. He will likely be limited through practices, avoiding throwing, and will play on Sundays. When he plays, he will likely re-aggravate the injury, which could easily be a season-long problem for Wilson. Long term, I do not expect this to limit Wilson’s ability into next year, but for the 2022 season, this could be bad.
Week 6 Fantasy Football Injury Report: RBs
Jonathan Taylor
Taylor missed week 5 on a short week, as the Colts played on Thursday night. The upside is that he now had extra time to prepare for week 6. We will have to watch practice reports again this week, but I currently expect him to be active for week 6. In their first game back from injury, players returning from high ankle sprain show a decline of only -0.9 fantasy points. If you have JT and he plays, you need to start him.
Nyheim Hines
Hines took a hit to the head early in week 5 and was quickly ruled out with a concussion. The way he stumbled on the field looked very similar to that of Tua’s first head injury in week 3. With JT recovering from his injuries and Hines making his way back from concussion protocol, the Colts’ backfield has suddenly become a land of opportunity for Deon Jackson. Jackson did surprisingly well, with 62 yards on 13 carries and an additional 29 yards on 4 receptions. Jackson is an interesting waiver addition ahead of week 6 if either JT or Hines cannot play on Sunday.
Damien Harris
Harris suffered a hamstring injury in the first half of his week 5 matchup against the Lions. He did not return to the game; Rhamondre Stevenson went on to have a great game. Reports state they are expecting Harris to miss multiple games, and they are considering placing him on IR. Oddly enough, he ended up putting in a limited practice on Wednesday. Perhaps the injury wasn’t quite as bad as they originally thought.
Week 6 Fantasy Football Injury Report: WRs
Keenan Allen
As mentioned above, Allen has been out of play with a hamstring injury since week 1. Several times, it has appeared as though he may be ready to play, but he continues to re-aggravate his hamstring, setting him back. The team has labeled Allen as “day to day”. If true, this is great news, but I am skeptical of the team’s honesty with Allen’s situation. To make matters worse, the Chargers play on Monday night in week 6, meaning you likely can’t count on playing him for at least another week.
Rashod Bateman
Bateman missed week 5 with a midfoot injury. Reports state he “might be able” to play in week 6. This is another situation where I feel the team and coaches are trying to be optimistic. In reality, he likely won’t suit up. Midfoot injuries are challenging to come back from. When receivers jump to catch the ball, they risk re-injuring the foot. I wrote about this mechanism of injury on the Lisfranc injury page. This type of injury is often season-ending when severe enough. This does not appear to be the case with Bateman, but I won’t be surprised if he sits out in week 6.
Tyreek Hill
Heading into week 5, Hill was questionable with a quad injury. He played only 64% of the snaps and had 9 total touches. Coming out of the game, Hill was seen in a walking boot after being “stepped on.” He is currently listed as day-to-day. I expect him to play this week, as he was able to put in a full practice yesterday. With Skylar Thompson throwing the ball this week, managers will have to temper their expectations for the entire Dolphins offense.
Tee Higgins
Higgins was questionable heading into week 5. He ended up playing as expected but put up a goose with 0 targets and 0 receptions. It sounds like he aggravated his ankle injury at the beginning of the game and did not see another snap afterward. Heading into week 6, I wouldn’t expect him to be held out. We will have to keep an eye on him. As a player with a high ceiling, you have to start him if he plays.
Week 6 Fantasy Football Injury Report: TEs
Dawson Knox
Knox has been off to a rough start in 2022. He hasn’t been putting up excellent fantasy production compared to last year and now is injured. He ended up being out of week 5 with foot/hamstring injuries. This is an interesting situation, as we don’t have much detail on his specific injury. Buffalo plays the Chiefs in week 6, so I could see them pushing for Knox to be ready by Sunday. On the other hand, the Bills have a bye in week 7, so they may consider holding him out for the extra-long recovery. Practice this week will be very telling as to how the team wants to handle his injuries.
Darren Waller
Waller suffered a hamstring injury on Monday night and didn’t return to the game. This is likely an aggravation of his previous hamstring injury, which kept him out of training camp this summer. The raiders have a bye in week 6 anyway, so we will have to watch this injury heading into week 7.
