This article is part of our Injury Analysis series.
The bottom section — truly questionable — can be used as a kind of checklist or cheatsheet for Sunday morning. First, let's see who's in and who's out for Week 7. It's less of a bloodbath than the past few weeks, with six teams on bye and some star players cleared from injury reports Friday afternoon...
UPDATED - Saturday at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Good to Go 💯
- QB Dak Prescott + TE Dalton Schultz
- RB Saquon Barkley
- RBs Jonathan Taylor & Nyheim Hines
- WRs Ja'Marr Chase & Tee Higgins + TE Hayden Hurst
- WR Sammy Watkins
- DE Nick Bosa + OT Trent Williams + S Jimmie Ward
Ruled Out/Doubtful 🚑
- QB Carson Wentz (hand)
- QB Baker Mayfield (ankle)
- QB Russell Wilson (hamstring)
Brett Rypien will fill in. He has 42 NFL pass attempts... and four INTs. The much-improved Jets defense is in a good spot this week.... they just keep moving up in my Week 7 Streaming Defenses article (complete with rankings for this week, next week and ROS).
- RB J.K. Dobbins (knee)
- WR Joshua Palmer (head) + RB Joshua Kelley (IR - knee) + TE Donald Parham (head)
- WR Elijah Moore (personal)
- WRs Kadarius Toney (hamstring) & Kenny Golladay (knee)
- WRs Randall Cobb (ankle) & Christian Watson (hamstring)
- WR DJ Chark (IR - ankle)
- WR Julio Jones (knee) + TE Cameron Brate (neck)
- TE Darren Waller (hamstring)
- TE Logan Thomas (calf)
- K Dustin Hopkins (hamstring)
Key Defensive Players + Offensive Linemen
- CB Shaquill Griffin (back)
- CB William Jackson (back)
- DT Akiem Hicks (foot) + CB Sean Murphy-Bunting (quad)
- CB Denzel Ward (concussion)
- LB Logan Wilson (shoulder)
- CB Rashad Fenton (hamstring)
- DE Arik Armstead (foot) + DT Javon Kinlaw (IR - knee)
- LB Shaquille Leonard (nose)
- CB Ahkello Witherspoon (hamstring)
Listed as Questionable - Should Play 👍
- TE Mark Andrews (knee) - 1:00 ET
- WR Chris Moore (hip) + TE Brevin Jordan (ankle) - 4:05 ET
- WR Jaylen Waddle (shoulder) - 8:20 ET (SNF)
Waddle should be able to play after logging limited practices throughout the week. If not, Trent Sherfield has moved ahead of Cedrick Wilson for the No. 3 receiver role and would probably be the best deep-league play beyond Tyreek Hill, who should feast on this Pittsburgh secondary even as it gets healthier.
Truly Questionable 🤔
- RB D'Andre Swift (shoulder) + WR Josh Reynolds (ankle) - 1 ET
Swift missed the last two games before a Week 6 bye, while Reynolds played through his ankle injury and topped 80 yards both times (three in a row, actually, including the game in which he first injured his ankle). This week, however, Reynolds managed just one limited practice (Friday), while Swift was a limited participant all three days. With Chark already out, Tom Kennedy and/or Kalif Raymond figure(s) to play a bunch of snaps at WR this week. In the backfield, it'll be Jamaal Williams, Craig Reynolds and Justin Jackson filling in if Swift can't play, presumably in that order.
- WR Rashod Bateman (foot) - 1 ET
Bateman logged limited practices throughout the week and said coach John Harbaugh will make the final decision. In other words, it could be a game-day decision. Devin Duvernay and Demarcus Robinson have taken most of the WR snaps since Bateman sprained his foot Week 4.
- WR Jahan Dotson (hamstring) + TE John Bates (hamstring) - 1 ET
Dotson had a setback Thursday and didn't practice Friday. He sounds closer to 'doubtful' than 'questionable', despite being listed as the latter Friday afternoon. Bates is a game-time decision, with Cole Turner likely getting most of the TE snaps and targets if Bates can't play. The two formed a timeshare a couple weeks ago, with Bates getting a bit more playing time but Turner handling obvious passing situations. Turner then took on a three-down role last week after Bates pulled his hammy in pregame warmups.
- WR Marvin Jones (hamstring) - 1 ET
With Jamal Agnew (knee) ruled out, the Jags have either Tim Jones or Kendric Pryor available to fill in as the No. 3 receiver. Production has been thin recently, but Christian Kirk, Zay Jones and Evan Engram all are averaging more than a handful of looks per game.
- WR Kyle Phillips (hamstring) - 1 ET
Robert Woods might run more of his routes from the slot if Phillips is out. Indy slot man Kenny Moore is a name brand and seemed to be bouncing back from a slow start to the season, but then he stunk it up again last week against the Jags.
- WR Mack Hollins (heel) & Hunter Renfrow (hip) - 4:05 ET
With Waller out and these two banged up, the Raiders would lean on Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams more than usual... if that were even possible. Actually, it might be, at least against the Houston defense. Otherwise, the Raiders have TE Foster Moreau and WRs Keelan Cole and Albert Wilson on the roster.
- WR Tyler Lockett (hamstring) - 4:25 ET
Pete Carroll says Lockett has a really good chance to play. I say never trust Pete Carroll. That doesn't mean Lockett won't play; it means we don't have any real clue as of Friday. Just know that Lockett didn't practice at all this week, and even Carroll acknowledged that Lockett wasn't himself while playing through the hammy injury last week. The good news is that backups Marquise Goodwin and Dee Eskridge are even faster than the many they'd replace. The bad news is that they bring nothing else to the table, while Lockett does it all. FWIW, I really like Kenneth Walker at $5,800 on DraftKings this week and DK Metcalf at $6,900 on FanDuel.
- WR Keenan Allen (hamstring) - 4:25 ET
With Palmer already ruled out, a sixth consecutive Allen absence would leave DeAndre Carter and Jason Moore to work alongside Mike Williams. Backup TE Tre' McKitty could also see extra work, especially with Parham missing more time in addition to the WR issues. Anyway, Williams and Austin Ekeler should be busy. And Sony Michel is one my favorite deep-league sleepers for the week with fellow backup RB Joshua Kelley (ankle) out for at least a couple weeks.
- QB Mac Jones (ankle) + WRs Nelson Agholor (hamstring) & Kendrick Bourne (toe) - MNF
Jones and Bourne were limited practice participants all week, while Agholor was a DNP on Thursday before joining them for a pair of limited practices. Don't expect the Patriots to give us many hints, but it does seem Jones is ready to return either this week or next. The two receivers aren't of much concern apart from single-game DFS showdowns; both are likely behind Jakobi Meyers and DeVante Parker, and perhaps rookie Tyquan Thornton soon enough.
Key Defensive Players + O-Linemen
- CBs Jaycee Horn (ribs), Donte Jackson (ankle) & CJ Henderson (concussion) - 1 ET
All three corners were full practice participants Friday. Carolina has eight players listed as questionable, but only C Pat Elflein (hip) appears unlikely to play out of that group.
- DE Jadeveon Clowney (ankle/back) - 1 ET
- OLB Justin Houston (groin) - 1 ET
- S Talanoa Hufanga (concussion) + CB Charvarius Ward (groin) - 4:25 ET
- T Terron Armstead (toe) + TE Durham Smythe (hammy) + DE Emmanuel Ogbah - 8:20