Week 5 Friday Injury Report: Lions Lose Their Roar; Saquon and JT Uncertain

Week 5 Friday Injury Report: Lions Lose Their Roar; Saquon and JT Uncertain

This article is part of our Injury Analysis series.

Week 5 not only brings the first round of byes but also the first opportunity for guys placed on various lists before the start of the season (IR/PUP/NFI) to be activated. Cooper Kupp and Jonathan Taylor are the headliners who impact every fantasy league, while Ravens RB Keaton Mitchell and Titans WR Kyle Phillips are worth keeping an eye on in deeper formats.

It certainly was an interesting Friday, including positive news for Javonte Williams, bad news for Amon-Ra St. Brown and a last-second addition to the injury report for Jahmyr Gibbs. It's not the worst slate in terms of the quantity of injuries, but question marks surrounding some big-name RBs means there's a lot of high-impact fantasy stuff. So, enough with the intros... let's get to it.

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 💯

Week 5 not only brings the first round of byes but also the first opportunity for guys placed on various lists before the start of the season (IR/PUP/NFI) to be activated. Cooper Kupp and Jonathan Taylor are the headliners who impact every fantasy league, while Ravens RB Keaton Mitchell and Titans WR Kyle Phillips are worth keeping an eye on in deeper formats.

It certainly was an interesting Friday, including positive news for Javonte Williams, bad news for Amon-Ra St. Brown and a last-second addition to the injury report for Jahmyr Gibbs. It's not the worst slate in terms of the quantity of injuries, but question marks surrounding some big-name RBs means there's a lot of high-impact fantasy stuff. So, enough with the intros... let's get to it.

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 💯

    

Ruled Out/Doubtful 🚑 

This is a shockingly short list, especially given that there aren't too many skill-position starters on injured reserve right now (it's pretty much just Dionte Johnson and then a few guys that are out for the season, i.e., J.K. Dobbins, Mike Williams and the Johnson & Johnson family's highest-paid employee).

Speaking of Johnsons... Juwan is out for a second straight week right when Foster Moreau (ankle) returns to the lineup. He'll probably lose some of the routes and pass snaps to Jimmy Graham, and maybe a few to Taysom Hill, but maybe not that many given that Graham's a walking piece of franchise history more so than a legitimate contributor at this point. I'm not saying Moreau should be started in season-long or dynasty leagues, but he's in play as a DFS punt.

St. Brown, of course, is the only real star here, and this could be a big volume week for TE Sam LaPorta with the target hog (and possibly others) unable to play for Detroit (see below).

   

Key Defensive Players + Offensive Linemen

          

Listed as Questionable - Should Play 👍

      

Truly Questionable / Game-Time Decisions 🤔

London - 9:30 ET

With Calvin Ridley, Christian Kirk and TE Evan Engram all healthy, the Jaguars have plenty of weapons for Trevor Lawrence against a banged-up Buffalo secondary. I do think there's still uncertainty in the target distribution between Ridley/Kirk/Jones, and the combo of Jones missing a few weeks while Kirk thrives may lead some to incorrectly bury Zay as a fantasy asset. In any case, Jones missed the past two weeks, while Agnew (his main replacement Week 3) has sat out just one so far. Maybe both will benefit from the healing, medicinal properties of delectable British cuisine.

   

Early Games

Gibbs was an end-of-week addition to the injury report, listed as a limited participant Friday and deemed questionable. He and Barkley could both be game-time decisions, while Taylor's active status should all but be decided Saturday when the Colts have to decide if he's coming off IR or not. That decision is probably the most important of the week for fantasy purposes, and not just because Taylor is who he is. It's also of great import to anyone rostering Zack Moss, who took at least 18 carries the past three weeks while playing more than 80 percent of Indy's snaps in that stretch.

It's possible Williams being listed as questionable is the Lions being sly, but my guess is that they're seriously considering holding him out, even though he's healthy and Amon-Ra St. Brown (abdomen) is listed as doubtful. Dan Campbell has been one of the more forthcoming coaches in the league in terms of injury reports and player roles, and this wouldn't be the first sign of a lack of confidence in the recently unsuspended Williams. Don't be surprised if we see an awful lot of Kalif Raymond this Sunday against Carolina, in addition to Josh Reynolds (who is listed as questionable, but should be fine after a full practice Friday). Then there's whatever is left of Marvin Jones, which frankly doesn't seem to be much. Antoine Green SZN?

Note: Barkley will be playing without two starting O-linemen and the team's top interior backup (see below) if he suits up. It's a tough spot for him, for numerous reasons, though Miami's defense looks less than stellar of late.

     

Late-Afternoon Games

A rib fracture usually means missed time, but Higgins returned to practice Friday and could push a little harder than usual with the Bengals at 1-3. If he's out, Trenton Irwin figures to get most of the WR snaps alongside Ja'Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd.

   

Primetime Games

Both these guys are on track to play, with Musgrave upgrading to full practice participation Friday and Adams having fought through the same injury after suffering it last week (plus, Revenge Game factor).

        

Key Defensive Players + O-Linemen

   

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerry Donabedian
Jerry was a 2018 finalist for the FSWA's Player Notes Writer of the Year and DFS Writer of the Year awards. A Baltimore native, Jerry roots for the Ravens and watches "The Wire" in his spare time.
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