Each and every week, players across the NFL suffer injuries. This weekly article will explore the injuries that affect your dynasty squads. We will briefly discuss the injured players themselves and those who stand to benefit or suffer as a result. In order to make them easier to follow, we will break down the injuries by division. Without further ado, let us examine the Regular Season Week 12 injuries and the next men up.
AFC East
Demario Douglas –
— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) November 27, 2023
Good news is he told reporters he doesn’t have a concussion.
Key will be if he shows up tomorrow with or without latent symptoms, especially since he had a concussion earlier this season.
Brutal neck shot here though.
pic.twitter.com/BtafGSCLUJ
New England wide receiver Demario Douglas was forced from his team’s Week 12 contest with a head/neck injury. The nominal #1 receiver in the Patriots offense was knocked out of the game after sustaining a wicked-looking close line from a Giants defender. Bill Belichick and company are notoriously tight-lipped about injuries to their players. Keep an eye on practice reports of Douglas’ practice reps throughout the week, as they will be the best indicator of his status for next week. If he were to miss time, the Patriots would look to a combination of Juju Smith-Schuster, Devante Parker, and Tyquan Thornton as their primary receivers.
AFC South
𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧: #Colts star RB Jonathan Taylor will miss 2-3 weeks due to his thumb injury requiring surgery, per @TheAthleticNFL pic.twitter.com/texI3kcQz8
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) November 28, 2023
Indianapolis running back Jonathan Taylor suffered a thumb injury during his team’s Week 12 contest. The injury was rather serious and will cost the star rusher 2-3 weeks following a surgical procedure that was required to fix the injury. This is a big blow to Taylor’s fantasy managers. In his place the Colts will turn to early-season hero Zack Moss. The former Utah star will be a plug-and-play high upside RB2 option for managers during Taylor’s recovery.
AFC North
Cleveland quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson suffered a head injury during his team’s Week 12 loss. Subsequent testing revealed that the rookie had indeed suffered a concussion. He will need to progress through the league’s concussion protocols to suit up for Week 13. Odds are that he will miss at least one game, as the new protocols have led to players missing at least one contest. If he does sit out next week, the Browns will turn to either P.J. Walker or newly signed Joe Flacco. My money would be on Flacco, as they have been extremely hesitant to turn back to Walker in all but the most desperate of circumstances. Flacco offers zero mobility but would potentially offer something of a boost to the Browns pass catchers.
Kevin Stefanski thinks Amari Cooper will be “OK” he is dealing with a rib injury. pic.twitter.com/aNNpnTd8PB
— Faithful Dawgs Podcast (@FDPodcastCLE) November 27, 2023
Cleveland wide receiver Amari Cooper went down with what appeared to be a rib injury in the closing minutes of his team’s Week 12 loss. Subsequent x-rays came back negative, and he is currently listed as day-to-day. Cooper is, without question, the top receiver in the Browns passing game. If he were to miss any game action, it would be a massive hole in the Cleveland lineup. The Browns would be forced to turn to a trio of Elijah Moore, Cedric Tillman, and David Bell at the receiver position. James Proche could also get some run. In all likelihood, tight end David Njoku would operate as the top weapon in the receiving game, with the Browns adopting their usual run-heavy approach.
AFC West
The AFC West emerged from Week 12 healthy on the fantasy football side of things.
NFC East
*Brian Robinson gets cleared after a concussion check, per CBS*
— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) November 23, 2023
A couple plays later he gets a collision like this on Dante Fowler Jr’s sack. pic.twitter.com/x3Yo3uLyxv
Washington running back Brian Robinson briefly exited his team’s Week 12 loss with a potential concussion. He was able to return to action and appears to have avoided a significant head injury. Nonetheless, this is a situation to monitor throughout the week’s practices. If Robinson subsequently displayed any concussion-type symptoms and missed any game action, the Commanders would turn to Antonio Gibson and Chris Rodriguez in their backfield.
NFC South
#ChrisOlave to locker roomhttps://t.co/nrUN9pmRCQ pic.twitter.com/dFtfGE2EaL
— David J. Chao – ProFootballDoc (@ProFootballDoc) November 26, 2023
New Orleans wide receiver Chris Olave exited his team’s Week 12 loss with a head injury. In one of the scariest injuries of the entire weekend, the talented former Ohio State star was upended on an attempted catch, landing on his head and neck. Later, testing revealed that he had suffered a concussion. This is his second concussion in his tenure with the Saints, and he will almost certainly miss some time. Compounding his injury for the Saints, they also lost fellow receiver Rashid Shaheed to a thigh injury. Add in the fact that they are already down Michael Thomas, and the Saints are desperately thin heading into Week 13 against Detroit. Carr and company will be forced to rely on rookie A.T. Perry, Keith Kirkwood, and Lynn Bowden Jr. Expect a heavy dose of Alvin Kamara and talented tight ends Juwan Johnson and Taysom Hill.
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield briefly left with an ankle injury in his team’s Week 12 game. The former #1 overall pick was able to return, and testing following the game revealed no significant injury to the Bucs starting quarterback. This will, however, be a situation to monitor throughout the week. If, for some reason, he has a setback, Tampa would turn to former second-round pick Kyle Trask to steer the ship until Baker could get back under center.
NFC North
This catch gave DJ Moore 1K receiving yards on the season!
— Marquee Bears (@BearsMarquee) November 28, 2023
He's the first Bear with 1K receiving yards through 12 games since Alshon Jeffrey in 2013.pic.twitter.com/iuiuEjVQ8c
Chicago wide receiver DJ Moore appeared to have injured his ankle on his final play of their Monday Night win. The receiver made a deep catch down the middle of the field, setting up a game-winning field goal. He seemed to be noticeably limping off the field after the catch. With a Week 13 bye on tap, this could be nothing in the long run. However, it would be wise to keep an eye on his practice reps once they return from the bye to ensure he is healthy and ready to go for your playoff run. If he were to miss any game action, the Bears would look to Darnell Mooney, Tyler Scott, and Equanimeous St. Brown as tier-top receivers.
NFC West
#CooperKupp with new/different ankle injury but should continue pic.twitter.com/iwTA0h72Ig
— David J. Chao – ProFootballDoc (@ProFootballDoc) November 26, 2023
Los Angeles receiver Cooper Kupp appeared to aggravate his ailing ankle during his team’s Week 12 game. There has been little information about the exact nature of the aggravation, but with Kupp’s recent injury woes, this will be a situation to monitor moving forward. The Rams are still in the playoff picture, so they will no doubt try to nurse their star receiver along. If he is forced to miss any game action, look for Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell to command a massive target share along with tight end Tyler Higbee. Demarcus Robinson and Austin Trammell would fill out the receiver order.
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