Week 4 Friday Injury Report: Raiders and Chargers Ailing, Olave Injured, Kittle Cleared

Injuries are really starting to pile up around the league, and this is the first time all season we'll head into the weekend with a large quantity of potential game-time decisions that are of considerable interest in typical fantasy leagues. In some cases that entails good news, with A.J. Brown (hamstring) and Deebo Samuel (calf) returning to practice late in the week and now pushing to play. In other cases the news isn't so good, like Chris Olave injuring his hamstring Friday or Diontae Johnson suddenly nursing a groin injury (although Johnson looks pretty good to play come Sunday).

Olave wasn't the only prominent player to suffer a mid-week hamstring injury, as the same happened to Davante Adams a day earlier, knocking him out for at least one game. With Raiders TE Michael Mayer out for personal reasons, everything sets up nicely for rookie tight end Brock Bowers to see a boatload of volume against the Browns. The Raiders and Browns have looked like two of the league's worst teams this year, and they're also two of the most injured this week, with Las Vegas in particularly bad shape without Adams, Mayer, DE Maxx Crosby and RT Thayer Munford. The Browns are healthy on defense, apart from Myles Garrett playing on two bad feet, but they'll again be missing both starting OTs and TE David Njoku.

Other injury hotspots for Week 4 include Seattle's front seven, the Chargers' secondary (plus the rest of the team), Carolina's interior offensive line and Cincinnati's interior D-line. 

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 💯

• RB Bijan Robinson (shoulder)
• RB Jerome Ford (knee)
• WR Nico Collins (hamstring)
• WR Jordan Addison (ankle)
• WR Marvin Harrison (quad)
• WR Rome Odunze (hip)
• WR Jayden Reed (calf)
• WRs Chris Godwin (neck) & MIke Evans (knee/rest)
• TE George Kittle (hamstring)
• TE Sam LaPorta (ankle)
• TE Hunter Henry (ankle)
• TE Hayden Hurst (Achilles)
• TE Luke Musgrave (quad)

Ruled Out/Doubtful 🚑 

• RB Austin Ekeler (concussion)
• RB Jaylen Warren (knee)
• RB Dameon Pierce (hamstring)
• RB Pierre Strong (hamstring)
• WR Davante Adams (hamstring)
• WR Tank Dell (ribs, wrist)
• WR Cooper Kupp (ankle)
• WR DeVonta Smith (concussion)
• WR Jalen McMillan (D - hamstring)
• TE David Njoku (ankle)
• TE Trey McBride (concussion)
• TE Evan Engram (hamstring)
• TE Michael Mayer (personal)
• TE MyCole Pruitt (knee)

Many of the snaps that usually go to Ekeler and Warren on their respective teams figure to be handled by Jeremy McNichols (WAS) and Cordarrelle Patterson (PIT), but it may be Brian Robinson and Najee Harris who end up as the true beneficiaries in terms of extra touches and increased fantasy value. Houston's backfield, meanwhile, is up in the air, with Pierce ruled out despite some optimism earlier in the week (while Joe Mixon returned to practice Friday and is listed as questionable). Cam Akers is a solid fantasy start if Mixon is out again.

For the wide receivers, we've got no shortage of big-name absences this week, setting up larger-than-usual target projections for Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker and Demarcus Robinson. Potential fill-in starters for the injured players include Raiders WR DJ Turner, Texans WR Robert Woods, Rams WR Tutu Atwell, Eagles WRs Parris Campbell and Jahan Dotson and Bucs WR Trey Palmer. The guy who gets the biggest boost is Meyers, along with aforementioned teammate Brock Bowers.

For the tight ends, we're looking at another week of Jordan Akins and Brenton Strange running a lot of routes, and they'll likely be joined by fellow backup Elijah Higgins, who has done well with his limited opportunities in Arizona up to this point. McBride's absence could also help Greg Dortch get a few more snaps and targets as the No. 3/slot receiver, and it slightly boosts target projections for Marvin Harrison and Michael Wilson.

Key Defensive Players + Offensive Linemen

• G Cesar Ruiz (knee) + C Erik McCoy (IR - groin) + LB Demario Davis (hamstring)
• RT Kaleb McGary (knee)
• DT B.J. Hill (D - hamstring) + DT Sheldon Rankins (hamstring) + RT Trent Brown (knee)
• G Damien Lewis (elbow) + DT Shy Tuttle (foot)
• LB Ivan Pace (ankle)
• LB Foyesade Oluokun (foot)
• S Jimmie Ward (groin)
• G Isaac Seumalo (pec) + OLB Alex Highsmith (groin)
• CB Kenny Moore (hip) + DE Kwity Paye (quad)
• LB Alex Singleton (IR - ACL)
• LB C.J. Mosley (D - toe) + RT Morgan Moses (knee)
• OT Vederian Lowe (knee)
• DT Javon Hargrave (triceps)
• DE Mike Danna (calf)
• OLB Joey Bosa (hip) + LT Rashawn Slater (pectoral)
• LT Jedrick Wills (knee) + RT Jack Conklin (hamstring)
• DE Maxx Crosby (ankle) + RT Thayer Munford (knee) + LB Divine Deablo (oblique)
• CB Taron Johnson (arm) + LB Terrel Bernard (pectoral)
• G Andrew Vorhees (D - ankle)
• C Frank Ragnow (pectoral)

Listed as Questionable - Should Play 👍

• WR Keenan Allen (heel)

Truly Questionable / Game-Time Decisions 🤔

Early Games

• QB Jordan Love (MCL)
• RB Joe Mixon (ankle)
• RB Bucky Irving (hamstring)
• RB Alvin Kamara (ribs) + WR Chris Olave (hamstring)
• WR A.J. Brown (hamstring)
• WR Diontae Johnson (groin)
• WR Gabe Davis (shoulder)

This is a rather prominent list of players, but Saints RB Alvin Kamara and Panthers WR Diontae Johnson at least seem on track to play. The others are closer to 50/50, or perhaps worse in Olave's case after he suffered a new injury (to his hamstring) during Friday's practice. The Saints have already ruled out A.T. Perry (hamstring) and have Cedrick Wilson (ankle) listed as questionable, potentially leaving rookies Bub Means and Mason Tipton as the WRs alongside Rashid Shaheed in three-wide formations. Shaheed figures to be featured in the gameplan more than usual this week.

Eagles WR A.J. Brown just returned to practice Friday after missing two games, and with a bye coming up Week 5 it would make a lot of sense to hold him out another week. On the other hand, WR DeVonta Smith (concussion) is already out, and if Brown were to also be inactive the Eagles would be left with the worst WR group in the league, featuring Jahan Dotson, Parris Campbell and Johnny Wilson. The lack of threatening players out wide should theoretically make it easier to defend RB Saquon Barkley and TE Dallas Goedert, but there's no doubt the Eagles will try to get those guys the ball a lot anyway.

Packers QB Jordan Love and Texans RB Joe Mixon may be the closest to true 50/50s on this list, with the former a limited practice participant all week and the latter just returning Friday. The Week 4 matchup looks great for Mixon (or replacement starter Cam Akers), facing a struggling and banged-up Jacksonville team. Love would have a tougher matchup with Brian Flores' red-hot defense, and the importance of that game for NFC North standing might inspire the Packers to temporarily shed their reputation for handling injuries cautiously (or not, who knows...)

Late-Afternoon Games

• QB Justin Herbert (ankle)
• RB Ameer Abdullah (back)
• WR Deebo Samuel (calf)

Samuel is the headliner here, in part because he is who he is and in part because Jauan Jennings put up 46 fantasy points in Samuel's absence last week. It is possible Samuel returns but has a limited role, in which case Jennings would still be running a lot of routes. Still, there's no guarantee of more than two or three targets for Jennings with Samuel active, especially now that TE George Kittle is back (he doesn't even have a game designation this week).

Herbert's case is an interesting one that could include all kinds of secondary considerations apart from how his ankle feels, as the Chargers have a Week 5 bye and will already be playing without LT Rashawn Slater and OLB Joey Bosa. They also have RT Joe Alt and three of their top four CBs listed as questionable, which hints not only at protection issues but also long odds of pulling off an upset. Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh may not be wired to think that way, but he's no fool either, and we all saw Herbert barely able to limp off the field last week after aggravating the high-ankle sprain in Pittsburgh.

Primetime Games

• QB Skylar Thompson (ribs) - MNF
• RB Raheem Mostert (chest) - MNF
• RB Kenneth Walker (oblique) - MNF

Thompson may not start even if he's healthy enough to play, as he was awful last week before getting knocked out of the loss to Seattle. Tim Boyle and Tyler Huntley are both probably better than Thompson. Mostert, meanwhile, has remained limited in practice after missing the past two games. He looks truly questionable as of Friday, but it's possible there's more progress over the weekend.

Walker seems on track to play given that he returned to practice at the end of last week, although he'd yet to progress to full participation as of Friday afternoon. The Seahawks are extremely banged up otherwise, with the main issue being their front seven. Five key guys from the front seven didn't practice Friday, and two others were limited participants. Detroit should be able to run the ball quite well even with center Frank Ragnow (pec) ruled out for Monday.

Key Defensive Players + O-Linemen

• G Robert Hunt (hip) + DL A'Shawn Robinson (knee)
• DT Andrew Billings (knee) + S Kevin Byard (back)
• CB Jaire Alexander (quad)
• LB Devin Lloyd (knee) + S Darnell Savage (quad) + CB Jarrian Jones (shoulder)
• RT Braden Smith (knee) + C Ryan Kelly (neck) + DE Tyquan Lewis (calf)
• RT Lane Johnson (concussion)
• RT Kelvin Beachum (hamstring)
• G Sidy Sow (ankle) + OT Caedan Wallace (knee) + CB Jonathan Jones (shoulder)
• LT Trent Williams (toe) + S Talanoa Hufanga (ankle) + DT Jordan Elliott (foot)
• RT Joe Alt (knee) + CB Kristian Fulton (knee) + CB Deane Leonard (leg) + CB Ja'Sir Taylor (leg)
• LB Jordan Hicks (ribs)
• C Tyler Linderbaum (knee)
• DT Jeffery Simmons (elbow
• LT Terron Armstead (head) + CB Kendall Fuller (head) + LB David Long (hamstring)
• CB Brian Branch (concussion)
• LB Jerome Baker (hamstring) + OLB Boye Mafe (knee) + OLB Ucheanna Nwosu (knee) + DT Byron Murphy (hamstring) + DE Leonard Williams (ribs)