Matt’s Medical Tent Talks: Week 8 Recap

It’s Wednesday evening and we still do not have a president. If you’ve come here solely for fantasy, TOO BAD (no, but really, just skip this and jump to the injuries if you’d like). Joe Biden is closing in on 270, but it’s not over yet, and I’m not going to lie to you, I could not care less about fantasy football at this moment. This vote will impact the daily lives of Americans like you and me. The United States of America is choosing a leader, but don’t worry I am here breaking down injuries. LET’S DO IT. 

Week 8 Injuries:

Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, SF – Ankle

After suffering a high ankle sprain early in the season and never quite recovering, which is typical, Jimmy G has reaggravated the injury and is now out indefinitely. Garoppolo looked good for one of three games since initially returning from his high ankle sprain demonstrating the quarterback was never 100% and was trying to play through the injury, unfortunately, with this setback, Garoppolo’s season is in question as I doubt he rushes to return again. 

Prognosis: Out 4-8 weeks depending on the severity of reinjury. If early return, it’d be a repeat of how he looked after initially coming back the first time around. 

Tevin Coleman, RB, SF – Knee

Another 49er, another injury reaggravation. In his first game back off IR, Coleman reinjured the same knee and was out for the remainder of the game. Similarly to Garoppolo, Coleman is likely to miss some time instead of returning prematurely again. The exact diagnosis continues to be unknown, but what we do know is Coleman is already out for TNF, with Shanahan saying Coleman will be out “a little bit of time”. 

Prognosis: Week-to-week. Monitoring knee’s response to football-specific moves in practice

Darrell Henderson, RB, LAR – Quad

Henderson, after a solid start to the game against the Dolphins, missed the 2nd half of the game reportedly due to a quad issue. The Rams have shown very little concern regarding the injury heading into the bye week, which tells me this is likely a quad contusion, a one to two-week recovery timeline depending on severity. I would not be concerned as the Rams come off their bye in week 10. 

Prognosis: Day-to-day, should be fine by week 10. 

Jonathan Taylor, RB, IND – Ankle

It was reported after Sunday’s uninspiring performance that Jonathan Taylor is dealing with an ankle issue. Is this a new injury, or is this something that has been lingering the past few weeks, something that may explain Taylor’s lackluster performance over the course of the season? Regardless, this injury does not seem to be preventing Taylor from playing, as he logged a limited practice Wednesday, but is obviously impacting his effectiveness. Frank Reich seems fine rolling out his RBBC featuring Taylor, Wilkins, and Hines, with Taylor potentially seeing an increased workload assuming he plays as Jordan Wilkins is also banged up. 

Prognosis: Day-to-day, does not seem to be in danger of missing Sunday’s game, though efficiency may be more of the same.  

Calvin Ridley, WR, ATL – Foot

Ridley joins the growing list of midfoot sprains with Chris Carson and Joe Mixon. The Falcons have reported that they received “exciting news” regarding Ridley’s injury, likely meaning no significant ligamentous tears or fracture, but as I stated last week on the podcast, imaging is not always reliable when assessing these injuries as the true test is how the foot responds when back on the field. Could this be a brief one to two-week injury? Sure. Can this be a season-ending lisfranc injury? Also yes, though the current reports do not seem to suggest that being the case. Fingers crossed. Ridley did not participate in Wednesday’s practice, so we will see if he can test the foot this week, similarly to how Pete Carroll said Chris Carson would test the foot at the end of the week. 

Prognosis: Week-to-week. Everything depends on the foot’s response to football-specific activities, whenever it is that Ridley is able to test the foot. 

Kenny Golladay, WR, DET – Hip

There is very little information known regarding Golladay’s injury as Matt Patricia and the Lions are notoriously opaque with injury reports. What we do know is that Golladay is likely out for week nine, with reports suggesting Golladay may be a candidate for IR suggesting anything from a potential muscle strain, to a core muscle issue, to a nagging labral issue (similarly to what Jarvis Landry played through in 2019). We’ll have to read the tea leaves when it comes to Golladay, but many questions would be solved if he were to be placed on IR. 

Prognosis: Week-to-week, with Golladay likely out week nine at a minimum

T.Y. Hilton, WR, IND – Groin

I’ll make this one brief. Hilton has not been relevant all of 2020. Simply put, he’s bad, doesn’t fit well with Phillip Rivers, and is not what he once was. This groin injury will likely cause him to miss some time, I would feel comfortable dropping him. 

Prognosis: Week-to-week

George Kittle, TE, SF – Foot 

If there were an elementary statistical analysis performed on my articles, the “mode” would absolutely be San Francisco, as there have seemingly been multiple Niners in this article every single week, with this one likely being the most impactful to fantasy managers. George Kittle suffered a rare foot fracture (Cuboid bone). Without getting super in-depth, assuming Kittle does not require injury, the injury will consist of relative rest with a boot to prevent excessive forces through the injured area. Kittle thinks he’ll be back in two weeks, unfortunately, there is no speeding up the healing process of bones. It will be eight weeks minimum as weight-bearing bones require eight to twelve weeks for full healing. Long term, as this seems to be a stable fracture, I have no worries for Kittle, just sucks for Kittle, the Niners, and fantasy managers who drafted him early…like me. 

Prognosis: Out 8-12 weeks, can be safely dropped. No real worries long-term.

Thursday Night Breakdown – Green Bay at San Francisco

I’ve already gone over the injury problems San Francisco is facing as Garoppolo, Mostert, Kittle, Coleman, and Samuel are all out due to injury, but I did not even mention the COVID-19 issues facing the team as Aiyuk, Bourne, and left tackle Trent Williams have all been placed on the reserve/COVID list. So, honestly, no idea who is going to play for the 49ers on TNF. As for the Packers, they will once again be without Aaron Jones, but they will now also be without their next two running backs on the depth chart, Jamaal Williams and A.J. Dillon, as they too are on the reserve/COVID list. This leaves a combination of Tyler Ervin and Dexter Williams, who was called up from the practice squad. Additionally, it looks as though Allen Lazard is close to returning from his core muscle injury. I expect the Packers to be careful with Lazard here, as they don’t want to see a re-aggravation with a resulting multi-week setback. 

Enjoy Thursday Night Football, and remember to check into the live stream immediately after the game!