INSIDE THE MEDICAL TENT Week 6

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.

Daniel Jones - QB (NYG)

Andrew Leduc - Is the Daniel Jones injury something owners should be worried about going forward?

Brian Scott - It's amazing to me that after 5 weeks he has only now just been injured. With the atrocious play of his offensive line, it's amazing that he has survived unharmed until now. He was quoted today as saying that he feels better and that it is not the same injury that caused him to miss the last 6 games of the season in 2021. It sounds promising and the Giants play Sunday night, so it will give him more time to prepare and get healthy. He was supposed to have already had an MRI, so it appears whatever they found did not trigger any alarms. He might have to play wearing a cervical collar if they can not get their act together on the front line.

Andrew Leduc - Daniel Jones has a solid chance to play this weekend in Primetime. If he does not play, Tyrod Taylor will be at the helm to try and get this offense moving, which has been towards the bottom of the league with the New England Patriots. Between a horrendous offensive line, a non-distinct wide receiver hierarchy, and an injured Saquon Barkley, the Giants have fallen below the line of mediocracy. Jones was a draft value I loved this offseason, but it just has not played out that way. Until Barkley returns to maybe keep the defenses honest, I expect this offense to remain much of the same.

Justin Jefferson - WR (MIN)

Andrew Leduc - Jefferson falls the latest victim to a hamstring injury and lands on IR. Will this be only 4 weeks?

Brian Scott - A significant hamstring injury here since without any hesitation he is going right to IR. This means 4 games out at a minimum. Looking at the schedule, however, it could end up being even longer. I have said it plenty of times before, hamstrings take a long time to get better and the rehab is slow. Until you can test it out at full speed nothing is guaranteed in just 4 weeks. I could realistically see this going as long as 6, and that could be based on how successful the Vikings are in his absence.

Andrew Leduc - Jefferson will now be absent from the pass-happy offense that is the Vikings. This has not equaled success so far this season, as many areas of the team have come up short so far. The opportunities in this offense will continue to be high making Jordan Addison a huge beneficiary of this absence. K.J. Osborn should also have been a big waiver wire target as he is the clear second option in that receiver core. Do not forget about T.J. Hockenson though, as he is now the most veteran and consistent receiving option in this offense.

Travis Kelce - TE (KC)

Andrew Leduc - With Kelce coming back after an extended absence from the game this past week, do you think he will be good to go now?

Brian Scott - Many people have spoken of the "Taylor Swift" effect. We may have seen one aspect of that in action, as initially, people jumped on social media fearing that Kelce had torn his achilles. Turns out it was a mild ankle sprain and he was able to come back in the 3rd quarter and catch a touchdown pass. He will most definitely nurse it along at practice this week, but I expect he will be out there with this thing braced and taped up. Look for slightly decreased agility from this tight end, but with Taylor Swift watching from afar, He will not let this keep him off the field!

Andrew Leduc - Can we please be done with the Taylor Swift invasion of the NFL? Kelce suffered what looked to be a non-contact ankle injury this past weekend. The fact that he came back and scored a touchdown almost cost me my win in my home league. Regardless, it was great news for Kelce owners and we should expect his normal output of points moving forward. I see no issues here.

Geno Smith - QB (SEA)

Andrew Leduc - Coming off a bye week do you think Geno Smith's knee injury keeps him sidelined any longer?

Brian Scott - With a knee injury that occurred two weeks ago just before their recent bye week, HC Pete Carroll was quoted as saying that Smith is "Fine", and should be ready to play this weekend. Now their official injury report does not come out until today (Wednesday), so Smith could pop up as limited, but with what has been reported as mild injury and with Carroll's comments today, sounds like he should be back in action.

Andrew Leduc - The Geno Smith experience has been lack-luster compared to last season. D.K. Metcalf has only had one week over 15 points so far in PPR leagues but has also not scored under 10 points yet. Tyler Lockett has been nowhere to be seen other than in Week 2 against the Lions. I would say coming off their BYE week that I would expect this offense to take a step forward, but given that time was most likely spent by Geno resting and rehabbing, I think we see more of the same in what is going to shape up for a long haul stretch now to close the season. I do not see Metcalf eclipsing past mid wide receiver 2 territory. Geno Smith will most likely end as a mid quarterback 2 as well.

De’Von Achane - RB (MIA)

Andrew Leduc - There was a lot of rumors going around about the severity of Achane's knee injury. From what you have read and seen, what is your take on how this plays out?

Brian Scott - I hate when head coaches provide injury updates, but not much we can do about it. HC Mike McDaniel basically joked about Achane's injury the other day, brushing it off as though it was nothing. However, numerous reports are circulating that he will miss several weeks, and there could be consideration of him going on IR. After being informed of some video floating around of the play he was injured on, it looked like it might be an MCL sprain. If that is all it is, and nothing more, then I would expect anywhere between 2-4 weeks, so a trip to IR could be avoided. They have a week 10 bye, so this will most definitely factor into their decision. Also, with Jeff Wilson Jr., still not officially activate from his IR stint but currently in the 21 day window, look for some roster shifts to occur.

Andrew Leduc - Since asking brian the question, Achane has been placed on the IR and will be missing at least 4 weeks. Mostert should continue to see his normal workload with maybe a small uptick, but Jeff Wilson is also returning to continue making this backfield a 2-headed monster. Jeff Wilson has started practicing and the Dolphins now have 21 days to activate him. It could be as early as this week, but we have not heard enough news yet to confirm that. If Wilson is not back this week, Mostert could have a huge week against Carolina who ranks second to last in run defense. That game is also at home, so fire up Mostert for the next 4 weeks confidently as he should continue to produce RB1 numbers.

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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