NFL Week 2 Friday Injury Report: Ekeler Doubtful, TEs Returning, O-Lines Hurting

NFL Week 2 Friday Injury Report: Ekeler Doubtful, TEs Returning, O-Lines Hurting

This article is part of our Injury Analysis series.

Remember there are two Monday games this week instead of one, though neither has any game-time decisions of great import for fantasy. Injury hotspots this weekend include New England's offensive line, Baltimore's offensive line and secondary, Green Bay's offense, Tampa's secondary, Tennessee's secondary, the Chargers' front seven and Houston's safeties.

The Chargers-Titans game at 1:00 ET appears especially hard hit, with a slew of big names listed as out/doubtful/questionable. 

Below you'll find four different categories, with our lists including key offensive linemen and defensive players whose presences/absences might impact fantasy decisions. The bottom section — truly questionable — is sorted by kickoff times and can be used as a checklist/cheatsheet for Sunday morning and afternoon when inactives come out. First, let's see who's definitely in and who's definitely out...

Good to Go 💯

       

    

Ruled Out/Doubtful 🚑 

Remember there are two Monday games this week instead of one, though neither has any game-time decisions of great import for fantasy. Injury hotspots this weekend include New England's offensive line, Baltimore's offensive line and secondary, Green Bay's offense, Tampa's secondary, Tennessee's secondary, the Chargers' front seven and Houston's safeties.

The Chargers-Titans game at 1:00 ET appears especially hard hit, with a slew of big names listed as out/doubtful/questionable. 

Below you'll find four different categories, with our lists including key offensive linemen and defensive players whose presences/absences might impact fantasy decisions. The bottom section — truly questionable — is sorted by kickoff times and can be used as a checklist/cheatsheet for Sunday morning and afternoon when inactives come out. First, let's see who's definitely in and who's definitely out...

Good to Go 💯

       

    

Ruled Out/Doubtful 🚑 

Ekeler's doubtful designation leaves Joshua Kelley as the probable lead back against a Titans defense that stuffed Jamaal Williams in Week 1 after allowing the fewest rushing yards in the league last season. It's a tough matchup, but the Chargers O-line also played great last week and Kelley nearly got to 100 yards off the bench. 

The guys behind him, Elijah Dotson and Isaiah Spiller, have 54 career NFL snaps between them. Dotson was active ahead of Spiller last week despite not playing any special teams, which suggests the undrafted rookie is a better desperation fantasy play than the 2022 fourth-round pick.

   

Key Defensive Players + Offensive Linemen

          

Listed as Questionable - Should Play 👍

       

Truly Questionable 🤔

Early Games

Watson returned to practice Friday as a limited participant, while Jones was held out the entire week. A big dose of AJ Dillon could be in the cards, and he might be the only Packer that's trustworthy for fantasy lineups this week. 

For Watson, there's a strong chance of workload limitations even if he plays. Doubs was listed as questionable last week and ultimately got slightly less than half the available snaps and two-thirds of the routes... not quite a full starter's workload. It could be the same for Watson this week, if he even plays.

Hopkins is less concerning given his history of playing without practicing and comments that suggest he's on track to suit up. Stroud was added to the injury report Friday, presumably having hurt his shoulder during practice; he was listed as a limited participant and questionable for Sunday's game against Indy.

      

Late-Afternoon Games

Cooks has an MCL sprain and didn't practice at all this week. Jerry Jones said the wideout may play anyway, but I doubt it, especially not in Week 2 with the Cowboys favored by more than a touchdown. Playing seven days after an MCL sprain is December/January stuff.

    

Primetime Games

Chark is expected back and might soon prove to be the least rotten apple in Bryce Young's basket of targets. Parker... no clue, and not sure he'll be full time if he's active. Miller may not play much even if he's healthy.

     

Key Defensive Players + O-Linemen

   

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerry Donabedian
Jerry was a 2018 finalist for the FSWA's Player Notes Writer of the Year and DFS Writer of the Year awards. A Baltimore native, Jerry roots for the Ravens and watches "The Wire" in his spare time.
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