PRESENTED BY THE INJURED LIST PODCAST AND FANTASY SPORTS CORPORATION
BY: BRIAN SCOTT AND ANDREW LEDUC
WELCOME TO THE MEDICAL TENT
Welcome back for the second year of “Inside The Medical Tent.” Each week I, Andrew Leduc, will be asking Brian Scott, of “The Injured List Podcast,” injury questions that could have a fantasy impact. Brian will be giving his professional analysis of the injury and potential timelines. I will then turn that around into what you should do with that player and who could be a possible replacement. Check back every Wednesday during the season for all the necessary information before hitting your league’s waiver wire.
Aaron Rodgers - QB (NYJ)
Andrew Leduc - Can this actually be happening?
Brian Scott - Aaron Rodgers has officially entered into the 21-day practice window during which the NY Jets can officially move him back to the active roster. This comes just 79 days after his Achilles tendon injury. I have been asked often during the season what my thoughts were on his potential return. So, I shall indulge you all once again. This move, and the very idea of it, is not without significant risk. Consider that he is 40 years old and in less than 3 months after surgery to repair his Achilles tendon, he is trying to return to the most elite level of professional football on the planet. Now, factor in that nothing that was done during his surgery is revolutionary, despite being reported by several media outlets. Yes, his surgical fixation is unquestionably strong, in fact, it is as strong as a technique that we have currently, using special types of surgical implants to help bolster the repair. However, that in no way can speed up the physiological healing of the repair. So, for Aaron Rodgers fans, I say this. Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. In this case, that could potentially spell catastrophe as his risk for re-injury is exceptionally high at this time. In no way will he be able to simulate true game conditions, and even if he could during practice, the risk of re-injury is still there. At best, I think we see him on the sidelines available as a third-string option towards the end of the 21-day window should the Jets Superbowl hopes ride on it. At least, he can say that he made it back as he had predicted, which is what I think he has been wanting to say all along.
Andrew Leduc - This feels nothing more than an attention thing and a “proving point” by Rodgers. I do not think there is any way we see him take the field this year, especially given that the Jets will most likely be out of contention come Week 16 when he is eyeing his return. Let someone else pick him up and take a look at who they drop to do so. Desperate people do crazy things. It is perfectly fine to take advantage of that.
Keenan Allen - WR (LAC)
Andrew Leduc - Are we just seeing a maintenance-type absence for Allen here?
Brian Scott - I do not think we see him miss any time this weekend. It is that point of the season where practice time can be just as well spent in the facilities watching film and reviewing game tape, as it is on the field running through the same repetitive drills, they have done all season. He was able to play all but one snap last weekend and we should not expect anything less this weekend. He is a veteran and was banged up most of last year, so I just see this missed practice Wednesday this week as a rest well deserved for what they are calling a quad injury.
Andrew Leduc - As expected, this does seem to be a maintenance-type day for Allen. I would not worry too much about him being on the field. What should be concerning is who is going to step up in that offense to take some pressure off Allen. Herbert has hyper-focused on Allen and Ekeler, understandably. Without a Jaylen Guyton, Quenten Johnston, or the return of Joshua Palmer stepping up, I see this offense continue to struggle down the stretch, ultimately capping the ceiling for Allen. We are at the time of the year where underachieving teams start to see the writing on the wall and the thought of “we will get them next year” starts to creep in. You have to keep starting Allen, but the situation does seem a little shaky for me.
Kareem Hunt - RB (CLE)
Andrew Leduc - Is this injury a nagging injury that Hunt has been dealing with for weeks now?
Brian Scott - He played in a significantly less percentage of the offensive snaps last weekend, more so than any week since week 4, so something must have been up. Low and behold we found out today after he missed practice that he is dealing with a groin injury. He had been on the injury report earlier this season with a groin issue as well, but it is not clear if this is the same injury or a new one. Keep a close watch on what his status is in practice as we head into the weekend. If significant enough, it could lead to a game-time decision and possible limited use again as it did last weekend.
Andrew Leduc - Hunt has been pretty serviceable around the goal line for the Browns. Unfortunately for them, they are not getting very close to the endzone these days. It doesn’t get much better considering the situation at quarterback. Regardless, Jerome Ford is the only trustworthy member of this offense for me going forward. Amari Cooper feels like a guy that helped you get to the playoffs but will hold you back in the playoffs at the same time. His matchups down the stretch here are not great and he has a lot of inexperience throwing balls his way. Ford should get a lot of touches with Hunt only going half speed it seems.
Marquis Brown - WR (ARI)
Andrew Leduc - We don’t often hear too much about heel issues in the NFL. What are we looking at here?
Brian Scott - My guess on this is that he could be dealing with some type of chronic issue that came to a head last week as he was limited in practice then too. Despite that tag, he had a productive game this past weekend and I think we will see the same scenario play out this week in practice as he prepares for this weekend's game. These chronic things can sometimes rear their ugly head at this stage of the season, and in the heel, there is not too many structures that can be injured, so my best guess is that he is dealing either with some Achilles tendinitis, or more likely some plantar fasciitis. Both are very common chronic conditions that many athletes endure through, with the latter being more common that we will ever know.
Andrew Leduc - This is a guy who could be sneaky in the playoff matchups. With Kyler Murray still trying to ramp it up and the Cardinals season looking the way it is right now, I see a lot of opportunity to “get right” and prepare for next year. That could lead to some more free playing and some aggressive offensive calls to try some things out. I like the prospect of Brown down the stretch if he can keep this heel issue under control.
Tank Dell- WR (HOU)
Andrew Leduc - With his emergence in this offense, is this mostly precautionary?
Brian Scott - He reportedly had more advanced imaging studies done on his calf which revealed nothing major with regards to his calf injury. Sounds like this rest today was just precautionary. I expect that he will get in at least one full practice heading into the weekend and should be available. Friday's practice could be very telling, so watch for his status on that day in particular.
Andrew Leduc - Dell has really stepped up along side Stroud in this offense and I see that continuing. Quickly becoming one of his safest and favorite targets, Dell should be able to continue his redzone production as well as his overall consistency. There is no smoke and mirrors here. This is just real talent playing with real talent and making something out of nothing.
Aaron Jones- RB (GB)
Andrew Leduc - If an MCL injury is not long-term in this case, what does short-term look like?
Brian Scott - He missed last week's game with an MCL injury to the knee which the team does not believe to be long-term injury. That being said, along with missing their game, he has now missed practice every day this week as the team is now saying that he is week to week. That would make this week appear to NOT be THE week he makes his return. Depending on the severity, these could still take several weeks to heel up and resolve enough to get him back on the field. Keep an eye on his early week status as these remaining weeks to the season wind down.
Andrew Leduc - I would say this means good things for AJ Dillon, and it should, but Dillon has also been banged up and has not truly been himself. This offense has mostly stumbled recently outside of finally getting some production from Christian Watson this past week and Reed continuing to be somewhat consistent as a FLEX play. I think Watson will continue to be boom or bust, and I still see Reed as being the best option in this offense. With that said, I would not elevate him past a FLEX play though given the upside of this offense as a whole being somewhat low.
THE DISCHARGE
Come back every week for all of the latest injury updates. If you have other questions we didn’t get to in this week’s edition you can follow us on Twitter below and message us directly.
Brian Scott - The Injured List Podcast - (@injuredlistpod) https://twitter.com/injuredlistpod
Andrew Leduc - (@theRealMrMallard) https://twitter.com/realMrMallard
If you are interested in Andrew’s weekly rankings as well, follow the link below to TSS Fantasy.
Andrew Leduc’s (Mr. Mallard) Rankings - https://tssfantasy.com/andrews-rankings
Comments