Greg Scholz of Inside Injuries runs through some of the most pressing injury concerns for Week 6 of fantasy football 2024.
Before we dive in, here’s a quick glossary of terms commonly used by Inside Injuries:
- IRC = Injury Risk Category (three designations: “Low,” “Elevated,” “High”) — the overall likelihood a player will get injured
- HPF = Health Performance Factor (Peak, Above Average, Below Average, Poor) — our metric to predict player performance
- ORT = Optimal Recovery Time — the amount of time a player needs to fully recover from an injury (not the same as how much time they will actually miss).
GO DEEPER
NFL Week 6 fantasy football, betting cheat sheet: Texans without Collins, Kittle likely to play
James Cook, RB, BUF (foot/toe)
Buffalo’s Week 5 did not go as planned. Quarterback Josh Allen put together a subpar performance, they lost the game, and their star running back James Cook was injured late in the fourth quarter.
The injury occurred as Cook landed while trying to catch a pass. His body twisted and his left leg whipped downwards towards the turf. Upon impact, his toes made contact and appeared to hyperextend.
A turf toe injury is the concern here. It’s not the type of thing that will require a stint on the IR, but he likely will miss some time. We have him categorized with a High Injury Risk and an Optimal Recovery Time of 21 days. When he returns, his Injury Risk will still be High and it will remain that way for a few weeks.
Nico Collins, WR, HOU (hamstring)
Collins, the NFL leader in receiving yards, was placed on IR due to a hamstring strain he suffered in the first quarter of Houston’s Week 5 win over Buffalo.
The decision to place him on injured reserve is partially a surprise, but also not exactly. Hamstring strains require a lot more attention than other soft tissue injuries, so IR moves aren’t uncommon. However, a lot of hamstrings strains don’t necessitate moving a player to IR.
For a speedy player like Collins, the hamstring muscles are crucial for on-field success. As a result, it is in his best interest for his strain to be treated slowly and methodically. If his rehab were rushed, Houston would risk setting him up for a career full of hamstring injuries. If the rehab is slow, steady, and precise, they can mitigate a lot of risk moving forward.
Collins’ Injury Risk will be High for much of the remaining season. Depending on the severity and how he responds to early treatments, it’s possible Collins is out through Houston’s Week 14 bye. We won’t presume it’s that bad yet, and expect a much more modest Optimal Recovery Time of 42 days.
Michael Pittman Jr., WR, IND (back)
Pittman has been bit by the injury bug as of late. He landed on the injury report at the end of September with a combination of calf and back injuries that sidelined him for a practice, but he didn’t miss any games. Then, he did not start in Week 5 — he did still play — due to his injuries.
Based on reports, it sounds like the back injury is the larger concern to Indianapolis. The specifics haven’t been made clear, but it is severe enough that the team is considering putting him on IR. Historically, there are a few common injuries that could be the culprit here. A strain would be the most common. Other options include a herniated disc or a fracture.
Since landing on IR is a possibility, Pittman gets tagged with a High Injury Risk and his Optimal Recovery Time is 28 days.
Aaron Jones, RB, MIN (hip)
The Vikings bye week came at a great time for Jones. After suffering a hip injury in the first quarter of the team’s Week 5 game in London, he’ll be able to rest in Week 6 without missing any game time.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters that the team believes Jones avoided a long-term injury, but they’re going to be cautious moving forward. As a result, Jones is considered week-to-week.
Hip pointer injuries vary in recovery times due to a number of factors. Pain is a major one. The area where these injuries occur is at a place known as the iliac crest. There isn’t much cushioning here when a traumatic impact occurs. With that comes swelling and bruising, which limits mobility.
Jones gets a High Injury Risk for the next few weeks. His Optimal Recovery Time is 21 days, but his Health Performance Factor will be Above Average in Week 7 if he manages to return.
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, NE (leg)
Reports are mixed regarding the injury Stevenson is dealing with. Some reports say it’s a calf injury, others indicate it is a foot injury. Regardless, it appears to be lower body related and we’re treating it as a combination of the two.
Stevenson took a low hit to the calf in New England’s Week 5 loss to Miami and missed a few plays, but returned and finished out the game. As for his foot injury, there isn’t a play where we can identify a potential injury.
Without much information to go on, both injuries seem to be minor. His Injury Risk is Elevated — it will raise to High if he’s unable to practice Friday — and his Health Performance Factor is Above Average.
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Aaron Rodgers, QB, NYJ (low ankle sprain)
If you were up early to watch New York’s Week 5 loss in London, the injury Rodgers suffered looked a lot worse in the moment. After getting twisted up in a mess of bodies behind the line of scrimmage, Rodgers was seen screaming in pain and grabbing at the back of his leg above the knee.
After all the dust settled, Rodgers returned and was later diagnosed with a low ankle sprain. Low ankle sprains typically occur when the ankle “rolls” inward (medial) or outward (lateral). Lateral sprains are the more common of the two and involve the anterior talofibular ligament, the posterior talofibular ligament, and the calcaneofibular ligament.
Early testing hasn’t shown any tears to these ligaments and Rodgers isn’t known for his mobility at this point in his career. Because of this, we give him an Elevated Injury Risk and a Peak Health Factor. We expect him to play in Week 6.
Checking in on Christian McCaffrey (Achilles) and Cooper Kupp (ankle)
There aren’t any major developments for these guys, but there have been some positive updates, so we’ll check in on them together.
McCaffrey returned to working out this week for the first time since the middle of September. This comes just a few weeks after he visited a specialist in Germany. There, he was treated in a capacity that was similar to PRP. Short for platelet-rich plasma, PRP treatment involves drawing a small amount of blood from a patient, isolating the plasma — which is rich in platelets — from the blood, and re-injecting that plasma back into the injured area. The platelets in the plasma help accelerate the healing process.
For McCaffrey, getting back on the field is a solid step in the right direction, but we still don’t expect him to return until Week 10 at the earliest. His Injury Risk will be High for the rest of the season.
Moving on to Kupp, he should return sooner. After missing the past three weeks with a high-ankle sprain, we expect he should be back in Week 7 or Week 8. While Kupp hasn’t returned to practice yet, Los Angeles is on bye this week, so he has extra time to rest.
His Injury Risk will be High when he returns, but it should decrease after a few weeks so long as he doesn’t re-aggravate it. Additionally, his Health Performance Factor will be Above Average.
(Top photo of James Cook: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images)
