Welcome back to the Saturday Injury Report and welcome to the first week of the playoffs!
Every week I’ll be looking at injuries across the league for the upcoming slate of games.
Saturday Games
Raiders @ Bengals
The Raiders are fully healthy as they head into Saturday. I should note that TE Darren Waller remained limited in practice as of this report. Although he doesn’t have an injury status for the game, I’d expect that the team monitors his reps closely.
The Bengals are fully healthy and should be good to go.
Patriots @ Bills
The Patriots are up to their usual injury report shenanigans. Several key players such as WR Jakobi Meyers, RB Damien Harris, and K Nick Folk are all listed as questionable, but I expect that they all play and receive their usual workload. Only OL Isaiah Wynn is out for this week’s matchup against the Bills.
The Bills are fully healthy as they head into Saturday. This includes WR Emmanuel Sanders who practiced in full all week and should potentially eat into WR Gabriel Davis’ workload.
Sunday Games
Eagles @ Buccaneers
The Eagles will get back RB Miles Sanders for this weekend’s game. Sanders had surgery on his hand back in Week 16 and plans to wear protection but noted that he expects to be able to catch passes. The Eagles will need him to perform at a high level if they hope to upset Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers’ offense will be bolstered by the return of RB Leonard Fournette this week. Fournette had emerged as a crucial part of the team’s offense following their Week 9 bye. He averaged 13 carries and 7.5 targets across that span and should be locked in as the team’s every-down workhorse. The team has ruled out RB Ronald Jones and WR Cyril Grayson this week.
Niners @ Cowboys
The Niners are healthier than they’ve been in a long time. QB Jimmy Garoppolo logged two full practices on Thursday and Friday and looks to be fully ready to go. TE George Kittle and RB Elijah Mitchell practiced in full on Friday and should receive their usual workload against the Cowboys.
The Cowboys enter this game without LB Keanu Neal and S Israel Mukuamu. RB Tony Pollard and OT Tyron Smith practiced in full, a good sign for the Cowboys as they look to advance to the next round this week.
Steelers @ Chiefs
Steelers RB Najee Harris did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday but logged a full practice on Friday. I expect that Harris will play through the injury but it’s quite possible that he won’t get much work in the receiving game. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that WR JuJu Smith-Schuster is healthy enough to play in the Wild Card game against the Chiefs, but I don’t expect that he will be activated in time.
The Chiefs’ running game is not fully healthy. RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire was ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Steelers and RB Darrel Williams has been limited in practice all week. I should note that Williams was the only player on the Chiefs’ injury report with an injury status for Sunday’s game. It’s quite likely that the team might mothball Williams if they jump out to a big lead against the Steelers on Sunday. RB Derrick Gore could be a sneaky play in showdown DFS contests.
Monday Night Football
Cardinals @ Rams
The Cardinals have been quite coy with the availability of RB James Conner for Monday night’s game. Conner has missed practice all week with a rib injury, but he did return on Saturday. Conner is a true game-time decision but it’s quite likely that the team uses him in red-zone packages on Monday night. RB Chase Edmonds has been limited in practice all week but should be good to play this weekend. Note that RB Jonathan Ward has not practiced all week and is likely out for this game. WR Rondale Moore is also trending in the right direction after logging several limited practices. The team will need all hands on deck to beat the Rams.
The Rams, on the other hand, are fully healthy for Monday Night Football.
Enjoy the games, everyone!
