Week 8 Fantasy Football Injury Report: A.J. Brown, Lamar Jackson, Terry McLaurin Updates
Adam Ronis and Jorge Martin present the Week 8 fantasy football injury report, following the statuses of Lamar Jackson, Terry McLaurin and more players.
Have you heard that it's Bye-Mageddon Week? We've heard a little mention that six teams are on bye this week. So your fantasy teams might be short of active players, which means additional injuries could further complicate things.
Jayden Daniels has already been ruled out, so Marcus Mariota will step in and have to go toe-to-toe with Patrick Mahomes on Monday Night Football. Bryce Young is trending toward sitting, so we'll be watching very closely how Tetairoa McMillan does catching passes from the Red Rifle, Andy Dalton. Bucky Irving and Chris Godwin have already been ruled out, and we'll talk about what it means for one of their teammates below.
It's Week 8 people. The sample sizes are no longer small. We're back this week with the usual analysis on players battling injuries heading into the weekend. As always, this article will be updated through Saturday, based on news that comes out. Make sure to check out our weekly rankings, as they'll be updated as the active/inactive news becomes official. Here are the players we're following:
Week 8 Fantasy Football Injury Report
Quarterback
Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens)
Jackson was limited in practice for the second straight day with a hamstring injury after missing two games. The Ravens are favored by 6.5 points over the Bears and have a team total of 28.5 points. That’s an indication Jackson will play.
Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
After being limited in practice on Wednesday with a knee injury, Mayfield put in a full practice and will start against the Saints.
Michael Penix (Atlanta Falcons)
Penix was limited in practice Thursday with a knee injury for the second straight day. There’s no indication Penix will be out, but if you’re counting on him to start have a backup plan.
Running Back
Josh Jacobs (Green Bay Packers)
Jacobs was limited in practice on Thursday with a calf injury. The bulldozing RB was a game-time decision last week and played, but wasn’t completely healthy. While Jacobs scored 2 TDs, he had a season-low 14 touches. UPDATE: Jacobs is healthy, so start him with confidence.
Kareem Hunt (Kansas City Chiefs)
Hunt didn’t practice on Thursday due to a knee injury. Hunt hurt the knee last week, but did return to the game. He had 4 carries for 18 yards and no catches. If Hunt is out, Isiah Pacheco will benefit and Brashard Smith moves up the rankings.
D’Andre Swift (Chicago Bears)
Swift has been on the injury report the last few weeks and has played each time. He was limited on Thursday with a groin injury and is expected to play. He has two consecutive 100-yard games and will face a Ravens defense that has allowed the second most fantasy points per game to running backs.
Wide Receiver
Nico Collins (Houston Texans)
Collins didn’t practice for the second straight day on Thursday with a concussion. Collins suffered the concussion on Monday night making it challenging to pass the required steps in the protocol to play Sunday. Dalton Schultz, Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins get a boost if he sits.
A.J. Brown (Philadelphia Eagles)
Brown didn’t practice for the second straight day with a hamstring injury. Friday will be key for Brown to determine how severe the injury is. The Eagles have a good matchup against the Giants. Philadelphia has a bye in Week 9 and it could play a factor in the decision. UPDATE: AJB has been ruled OUT after sitting out practice for a third straight day. With the bye week upcoming, the team is practicing caution with the franchise WR. This is going to push targets toward DeVonta Smith, who caught 9-of-11 targets for 183 yards and a score last week. That was WITH Brown in the lineup. Going against the Giants defense allowing the third-most fantasy points to WRs has to be enticing for anyone rostering Smith.
Calvin Ridley (Tennessee Titans)
Ridley has yet to practice after missing last week. This is not looking good for him to play in a game where the Titans will need all the offensive weapons they can spare against the high-flying Colts. We’ll follow this one.
DJ Moore (Chicago Bears)
Moore was limited in practice on Thursday with a hip injury. He was on the injury report last week with a different injury and played. Moore has been a disappointment this season with 46 receiving yards or fewer in five straight games. Moore is higher in the rankings than usual with six teams on bye.
Chris Olave (New Orleans Saints)
After missing practice Wednesday with an ankle injury, Olave returned to practice. New Orleans Football’s Nick Underhill reported Olave is expected to play Sunday. He’s second in the NFL with 71 targets thus far.
Garrett Wilson (New York Jets)
After missing last week with a knee injury, the week isn’t off to a good start for Wilson missing the first two practices. Unless Wilson does something Friday, he’s likely out this week and the Jets have a bye in Week 9. No Jets wide receiver is worth starting.
Emeka Egbuka (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Egbuka played last week after he’d been a big question mark all week. This earns him “dawg” status, which may be weird for an Ohio State alum (Ian did not write this). Egbuka was DNP on Wednesday before LP on Thursday, so that first practice may have been a maintenance day after the Monday night game. Egbuka is the top receiving option for Baker Mayfield, so the matchup against the Saints could be a great one.
Terry McLaurin (Washington Commanders)
McLaurin put in a full practice on Thursday, and hasn’t played since Sept. 21 due to a quad injury. He put in one limited practice last week and didn’t play. McLaurin is on track to play, but the Commanders play Monday night in Kansas City. Make sure he’s good to go before putting him in the lineup.
Deebo Samuel (Washington Commanders)
Samuel put in a full practice on Thursday. The expectation is Samuel will play Monday night against the Chiefs. Samuel hasn’t practiced much the last few weeks with a heel injury and he played through it for several weeks before sitting out last week. Samuel said the heel is no longer an issue.
Darius Slayton (New York Giants)
Slayton has missed the last two weeks due to a hamstring injury. He was limited in practice for the second straight day Thursday. If Slayton plays, he’s likely to get a difficult matchup with Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell.
Christian Watson (Green Bay Packers)
The speedy wideout is at the tail end of the 21-day practice window. Watson told the media earlier this week that he planned to play on Sunday. Even if he’s cleared to play, it’s hard to expect that Watson will be running anything close to a full route participation. It is Bye-Mageddon, so if you’re starting Watson it may be with the hope that he’ll score a touchdown on a long play to pay off.
Josh Downs (Indianapolis Colts)
Downs missed last week due to a concussion and was able to practice in full on Thursday. He was limited on Wednesday and is on track to play.
Ricky Pearsall (San Francisco 49ers)
The second-year WR hasn’t played since Week 4, after he had over 100 yards in two of three games. And he has yet to practice this week. It’s not looking good for him to suit up anytime soon.
Jaylen Waddle (Miami Dolphins)
Waddle is one to keep an eye on. He didn’t practice Thursday and was listed with a hamstring injury and rest. The Dolphins are thin in offensive skill players to use for fantasy and if Waddle were to be out, the offense is in trouble.
Dontayvion Wicks (Green Bay Packers)
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Wicks is unlikely to play this week due to a calf injury. There’s a chance Christian Watson makes his season debut coming off a torn ACL. Romeo Doubs and Matthew Golden are the Packers receivers to rely on.=
Tight End
Dalton Kincaid (Buffalo Bills)
Kincaid has been limited both days in practice after sitting out Week 6—the Bills were on bye last week. He did go 6-108-0 in in his last game action, so he’ll need to be monitored going into the weekend. The Panthers are allowing the sixth most fantasy points to TEs.
Cole Kmet (Chicago Bears)
Kmet didn’t practice for the second straight day with a back injury. It’s unlikely Kmet plays this week, putting Colston Loveland in line as a streaming tight end with six teams on bye.
David Njoku (Cleveland Browns)
Njoku was limited in practice Thursday with a knee injury after missing last week. Njoku had a brace on his left leg. If he plays, Harold Fannin Jr. would take a hit.
Mason Taylor (New York Jets)
After missing both of the first two days of practice reports came out that Taylor still could play. This is one where we’ll follow it and update after the Friday practice report.
