It appears Doc has a case of crystal balls. As mentioned last week, I thought the injury report would fill up and it certainly has. Let’s take a look at who’s new in the clinic this week and who went to the morgue known as injured reserve.
Fred Davis of the Washington Redskins went on IR this week after tearing his Achilles’ tendon last week. Logan Paulsen took the snaps for the balance of the game and the Skins signed Chris Cooley to a contract. Cooley spent the last few years as the Redskins’ starting tight end before getting cut this year in training  camp. It’s hard to say which one of them will take the lead in that position.
Jacksonville suffered a pair of injuries that could take their season from bad to worse. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert reportedly tore the labrum in his left, non-throwing shoulder. His status is up in the air at present and Chad Henne would get the nod against Green Bay if Gabbert can’t go. Gabbert says he wants to play but there’s a hitch. The name you NEVER want to hear with an injury has revealed itself–Dr. James Andrews–and that is almost never good news.
The labrum itself is a mass of cartilage that circles the shoulder socket to give it strength. With Gabbert being a quarterback, he most likely has what is called a SLAP tear which is at the top of the shoulder socket where the bicep attaches to the shoulder. It’s certainly going to hurt Gabbert but could be an injury he can play through depending on his pain tolerance.
The late word out of Jacksonville Thursday afternoon is that Gabbert is good to go and will start against Green Bay. It’s not likely that you’ll be playing him in a standard league but if you are in a deeper and/or multiple QB league, deploy him as usual.
The initial news was worse for RB Maurice Jones-Drew as he went down hurt in the first quarter against Oakland. MJD left the game and reappeared on the sidelines in crutches and a walking boot later in the game. The initial diagnosis included the possibility of the dreaded Lisfranc injury. In this diagram, you see where the Lisfranc is and keep in mind that the key factor on the Lisfranc is that you can’t bear weight on the injured foot. The injury is designated by the oval in the picture.
Had that happened, he would have been done for the season but instead it’s just a sprained foot. While MJD owners can breathe a sigh of relief, he is certain to miss multiple games. I’d be surprised of MJD was back anytime before week 11. He’s already been ruled out against the Packers and the Jaguars host the Lions next week and their tough front four. Week 10 has Jacksonville hosting Indianapolis in a Thursday night game so the short week will do him no favors.
Week 11 against Houston is the earliest I think he comes back. Even if he stays out until week 12, he could be a jumpstart to making the playoffs or winning your league. With their final games against TEN, @BUF, NYJ, @MIA, NE and @ TEN, he could be a force to be reckoned with and put up big points down the stretch.
Green Bay also lost a pair of players last week when CB Charles Woodson went down with a broken collarbone and is done for 4-6 weeks. This shouldn’t impact the Pack too much since they play Jacksonville and a weakened Arizona team before their week 10 bye. The other loss is more concerning as WR Greg Jennings has opted for surgery on the groin he injured all the way back on week one. It’s been called a sports hernia which is a fancy term for a torn abdominal rectus. In this diagram, the impacted muscle is shown in pink and could be a painful tear. He’ll have surgery on the 30th in Philly with specialist William Meyers. Typical recovery time for a professional athlete is 3-6 weeks so he hopes to be back for the end of the regular season. He’ll need his rest and make sure he doesn’t do any more push-ups with a jet ski on his back anytime soon. It makes Randall Cobb a real nice asset to have on your team now.
Over in Cleveland, RB Trent Richardson is dealing with his rib injury. Rumors were abound that Richardson might be shut down for three weeks to let him heal up. Montario Hardesty would be in line to shoulder the load if T-Rich went down. Keep in mind he already had knee surgery that kept him out of the preseason, so some rest might be a good thing for the 1-6 Browns. It’s unclear whether Richardson will play but be ready with Plan B just in case. Even in his weekly press conference, Browns’ coach Pat Shurmur said Richardson had a good day of practice Thursday and did more in practice compared to Wednesday.
Indianapolis RB Donald Brown was a full participant in practice Thursday as he makes he his way back following knee surgery. Look for him to sit out this week but he should be good to go for next week and the Colts’ final 10 games of the season.
New England will be taking some banged up bodies over to London for its game against St. Louis. TE Aaron Hernandez didn’t practice yesterday while Rob Gronkowski is listed as limited with a hip injury. Both could very well play against the Rams.
St. Louis WR Danny Amendola was limited in practice this week, just three weeks after suffering his nearly-fatal clavicle injury against Arizona in a Thursday night game. Amendola won’t play against the Patriots but could be back on the field in week 10 after the Rams’ bye week. Look to try and him pluck him out of the free agent pool next week when the Rams have their bye. Keep in mind, Amendola was one of the league’s leaders in receptions before he got hurt so his value is even higher in PPR formats.
Dallas RB Felix Jones is suffering from neck and shoulder injuries suffered against Carolina last week. With DeMarco Murray out another week, Jones would be a risky play at best against the Giants on Sunday afternoon. Phillip Tanner was taking the first-team reps in practice this week so see if Jones will join Murray on the shelf in week eight.
Saints’  TE Jimmy Graham reportedly looked good in practice Wednesday and should be in the lineup for the game at Denver on Sunday night. Unless we hear otherwise, get him in the lineup for a game that has all the makings of a shootout in the Mile High City.
Carolina lost LB Jon Beason for the rest of the season. Beason will be lost for the season with knee surgery this year following a 28-tackle campaign. He played in the season opener at Arizona last year but tore his Achilles and missed almost all of 2011. As if the Carolina defense wasn’t already looking weak as it was, losing a three-time Pro Bowl linebacker certainly doesn’t help.
Quick Hits
Seattle lost WR Doug Baldwin with an ankle injury against the 49ers and his status is still uncertain for this week’s game at Detroit. Washington WR Pierre Garcon is suffering from tendon issues in his foot and look for him to be out until wee 10 at the earliest. San Francisco RB Frank Gore looks to be good to go against Arizona on Monday night. Two years ago, Gore broke his hip at Arizona and had to have the training staff hide his helmet so he wouldn’t go back out and play. Kansas City QB Matt Cassel participated in practice but will still yield to Brady Quinn for this week.
As always, leave questions and comments below and good luck to everyone in week eight.
–Doc
