Week 8 Fantasy Football Injury Report

The fantasy football world got a break from serious injuries in Week 7, but there were still a slew of minor injuries that will affect fantasy leagues in the coming weeks. Our injury expert breaks them down.

The fantasy community got a respite from the injury bug in Week 7. For the first time in a month, there weren't any significant injuries to early-round fantasy picks. The injury bug can't go completely away, though. Here's a look at the fantasy football injury report for Week 8.

Carson Palmer, QB, Cardinals

Injury: broken arm

Palmer took a shot to the left arm late in the second quarter against the Rams and did not return. Reports soon after the game confirmed that Palmer suffered a fractured arm and will require surgery. Doctors will likely put a plate and screws into the fractured part of the arm to re-stabilize it and allow the bone to heal better. A typical timetable for recovery after a broken bone that requires surgery usually is six to eight weeks, depending on the severity. Because it is his non-throwing arm, he could potentially return sooner, but he would need to have some padding around that arm to to protect that tissue as it heals. I would expect that, after four to six weeks the Cardinals will determine where he stands physically and if he’s able to get back on the field without being at significant risk of re-injury.

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Jay Cutler, QB, Dolphins

Injury: broken ribs

Cutler broke his ribs after being driven into the ground, landing on his left shoulder and side in the Dolphins eventual win over the Jets last week. Broken ribs are always a tricky injury with which to deal. The location of the rib fractures largely determines how long a player is out, even though the injury is essentially the same, no matter where the fractures are. That’s because the level of pain can vary greatly, depending on the location. Cutler has already been ruled out for this week’s game, with the Dolphins visiting the Ravens on Thursday night. He may possibly miss two to three weeks, opening the door for Matt Moore.

Fantasy Football Week 8 Waiver Wire

Delanie Walker, TE, Titans

Injury: ankle bone bruise

Walker went down with what looked like an ugly ankle injury late in the Titans overtime win over the Browns. Initial reports called it an ankle sprain, but the official diagnosis is a bone bruise to the ankle. Bone bruises can be tough to manage, especially in a weight bearing joint that is designed to handle significant stress, as the ankle is. With the Titans on bye in Week 8, he’ll have two weeks between games for the ankle to heal. However, depending on the severity of the bleeding and inflammation into the ankle/bone, he may not be able to push off that ankle and foot as well as he’d like, which would limit his ability to return in Week 9. I still think he ends up playing, but he could be less than 100%.

Leonard Fournette, RB, Jaguars

Injury: lateral ankle sprain

Fournette did not practice in any fashion leading up to Week 7, which is never a good sign. He ended up missing the team’s win over the Colts because of his ankle injury, though all of this was likely by design. Fournette would not have been playing at full strength last week, and the Jaguars go on bye in Week 8. I expect Fournette to be practicing when the Jaguars start preparing for their Week 9 game against the Bengals. Lateral ankle sprains usually respond well to conservative treatment. Their healing is just a matter of re-establishing the stability and strength in the foot/ankle complex when running and cutting off the leg. It would be a major surprise if Fournette weren’t able to go in Week 9.

Jeff Sullivan, C, Rams

Injury: sprained knee

Sullivan injured his knee in the third quarter against the Cardinals after getting rolled up on by a defender. Whenever a lineman gets rolled on like that, the first concern is an MCL injury, not the ACL as most would assume. The MCL is on the inner part of the knee, and that’s the ligament that gets overstretched on such a play. Sean McVay reported after the game that early reports on Sullivan’s knee are positive, which could mean the severity of the sprain isn’t as bad as initially thought. The Rams are on bye in Week 8, so it gives Sullivan a good opportunity to heal up quickly so he doesn’t miss much time.

Ryan Kalil, C, Panthers

Injury: strained neck

Kalil has been dealing with neck pain since he injured it early in the season, and seemed to aggravate the injury this past week against the Bears. Neck injuries are always delicate, and there’s even more reason to be concerned about them when the player in question is an offensive lineman. There’s a good chance that the Panthers take things slow with Kalil and possibly do more testing to figure out what exactly is going on with his neck. That means more shuffling of the Panthers offensive line, which has struggled to protect Cam Newton this year.