The Training Room: Week 5 Injury Updates

After a chaotic week of injuries, Week 5 was relatively quiet - good for your fantasy teams. There were some injuries to marquee RBs, but for the most part, they were relatively minor. Not all weeks are as forgiving as Week 5, so cherish these moments while you can and gear up for the weeks to come. Here are the major injuries from this past weekend.

Rashaad Penny, RB Seattle Seahawks

Injury: ankle fracture

Projected Timetable: season-ending

Potential Replacement(s): Ken Walker

Initial Thoughts:

Unfortunately, the injury bug bit Rashaad Penny again. Penny fractured his left ankle when he was tackled from behind by a Saints’ defender. As a result of the injury, Penny’s season will be over. It will be interesting to see where Penny is at a year from now, this injury should not physically be a significant limitation in 2023, but after a litany of injuries, it would be understandable that the accumulation would start to wear on him.

2022 second-round pick Ken Walker is slated to be the next man up and handle take over the Seattle backfield.

Kenneth Walker III handled 88% of the snaps after the departure of Rashaad Penny (ankle).



100% attempts

58% route participation



DeeJay Dallas took 2 out of 3 snaps on obvious passing downs.

— Dwain McFarland (@dwainmcfarland) October 9, 2022

Damien Harris, RB New England Patriots

Injury: hamstring strain

Projected Timetable: 3 weeks

Potential Replacement(s): Rhamondre Stevenson

Initial Thoughts:

Damien Harris was quickly ruled out of Sunday’s contest with a hamstring strain. Anytime a player sustains a soft tissue injury and is removed immediately afterward, there is a concern that it is a serious injury. The average time missed for NFL RBs with a hamstring strain is three weeks, which seems likely for Harris. On average, NFL RBs suffered a 22% dip in fantasy production their first game back following a hamstring injury, so if Harris did miss extended time, his teammate Rhamondre Stevenson figures to be relevant for a while.

Saquon Barkley, RB New York Giants

Injury: possible AC joint sprain (shoulder)

Projected Timetable: 0-2 weeks

Potential Replacement(s): Matt Breida

Initial Thoughts:

Fantasy managers held their breath when Saquon Barkley jogged to the locker room Sunday morning after injuring his shoulder with what looked on video to be an AC joint sprain.

Saquon Barkley (shoulder) is questionable to return#Giants 13 #Packers 20 Q4 pic.twitter.com/DnSZElfFK6

— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) October 9, 2022

Barkley was able to return, rip off a long reception and eventually score a touchdown, but I think this situation still bears monitoring. Barkley likely was given something for pain management in the locker room but this week, his pain could increase.

If Barkley does have an AC joint sprain, RBs have been known to miss 2-3 weeks with the highest re-injury rate of the 15 injuries I have looked at for NFL RBs (per the Injury Index). Don't be surprised if Barkley does not practice or does so in a limited fashion this week, and make preparations if it starts to look like Barkley is going to sit in Week 6.

Dalton Schultz, TE Dallas Cowboys

Injury: knee injury

Projected Timetable: 0-1 week

Potential Replacement(s): Jake Ferguson

Initial Thoughts:

Dalton Schultz was in and out of Sunday's contest vs. the Los Angeles Rams after re-aggravating his right knee (the same knee he injured earlier in the season with a PCL sprain). Knee injuries tend to linger amongst TEs, netting a 5% dip in fantasy production for the three games following a knee injury. Dallas' passing attack has been rather lackluster since Dak Prescott fractured his finger, so even if Schultz sat out a week or two, adding his backup Jake Ferguson would not have much fantasy relevance. Until Prescott returns, Schultz is a fade.

Chris Olave, WR New Orleans Saints

Injury: concussion

Projected Timetable: 1-2 weeks

Potential Replacement(s): Jarvis Landry, Marquez Callaway

Initial Thoughts:

Chris Olave was pulled from the game after scoring a TD. Olave entered the NFL's concussion protocol and was not cleared to return. A sample of 47 NFL WRs with a documented concussion from 2017-2021 showed that 79% missed at least one game. With the NFL implementing more rigorous return-to-play criteria post-concussion, we could see players miss more time.

Pat Freiermuth, TE Pittsburgh Steelers

Injury: concussion

Projected Timetable: 2 weeks

Potential Replacement(s): Zach Gentry

Initial Thoughts:

Similar to Olave (mentioned above), expect Pat Freiermuth to miss time with a concussion. For whatever reason, TEs tend to miss more time than WRs (2 games vs. 1 game). In his short NFL career, Freiermuth has sustained multiple concussions; this is his third in 21 career games. Multiple concussions in a short period of time could also extend the sophomore TE’s absence.

James Conner, RB Arizona Cardinals

Injury: rib injury

Projected Timetable: 1-2 weeks

Potential Replacement(s): Eno Benjamin

Initial Thoughts:

We have already seen rib injuries sideline running backs in the NFL for a few weeks and it is look like James Conner may continue this trend. Average weeks missed for NFL RBs with a rib injury is 2.1 weeks. Early reports are that Arizona is kicking the tires on a few RBs to add depth to their team, suggesting that Conner is likely to miss at least one game.

Baker Mayfield, QB Carolina Panthers

Injury: high ankle sprain

Projected Timetable: 3-4 weeks

Potential Replacement(s): P.J Walker / Sam Darnold (when healthy)

Initial Thoughts:

We have already seen a couple of quarterbacks nurse varying severity of high ankle sprains. Daniel Jones was able to return with no time missed, while Mac Jones still recovers from a more serious injury and is slated to miss a few more weeks. It sounds like Baker Mayfield has a more significant high ankle sprain and, as a result, should miss 3-4 weeks.

It sounds like the Panthers might soon be sellers, so P.J Walker might not be worth much even in 2QB/Superflex leagues. If Sam Darnold is able to return soon, he might also get a shot under center; however, ironically, he is also recovering from a high ankle sprain back in late August.

Darren Waller, TE Las Vegas Raiders

Injury: hamstring strain

Projected Timetable: 2-3 weeks

Potential Replacement(s): Foster Moreau

Initial Thoughts:

Darren Waller was pulled from Monday Night's game with a hamstring injury. Waller has been dealing with this injury since preseason and cannot seem to get right. The Raiders have a bye in Week 6 but it could be in their best interest to shut their start TE down for a an additonal week or two. Average weeks missed for NFL TEs with a hamstring injury is 2.6 weeks.

Russell Wilson, QB Denver Broncos

Injury: shoulder injury (latissimus dorsi)

Projected Timetable: 0 weeks

Potential Replacement(s): NA

Initial Thoughts:

Let’s Ride? More like: “Run and hide.” There has been a lot of frustration surrounding the Broncos’ offense and Russell Wilson has been a large component of why Denver is struggling. Over the weekend we learned that Wilson flew to L.A to get an injection in his throwing shoulder. An injury could explain some of the reason the newly signed QB is struggling.

Reports are Wilson is dealing with a latissimus dorsi (lat) strain. Although I don’t expect the Broncos’ QB to miss any time I think this is reason to be concerned if your invested in this offense for fantasy football.

The lat is a giant muscle that runs along a person’s trunk and connects the arm with the lower. The lat is involved with a lot of arm movements but for quarterbacks it ultimately drives speed/velocity and some dynamic movements like throwing on the run - two areas Wilson has historically been good in butis struggling with in 2022.

Although Wilson is pushing the ball down the field some, this is his lowest true completion percentage in the last 5 seasons (even including 2021 when Wilson recovered from a broken finger). Wilson’s play action completion percentage (PAC%) (plays where he is likely turning his body around quickly and often throwing on the run where latissimus dorsi strength is needed) is currently 29th. Since 2018 Wilson has never ranked lower than 12th in PAC%. With completion percentage on balls 20+ yards down the field, where throwing velocity comes into play, Wilson is slated at 17th around other QBs like Marucs Maroita and Baker Mayfield. - *Metrics from Playerprofiler.com and PFF.com

We have a recent example of an NFL QB nursing a lat injury and performing just fine - Dak Prescott 2021. However, Prescott injured his lat in training camp. Prescott’s workload was managed carefully and he had 4.5 weeks (~32 days) weeks to recover. This recovery was very similar to MLB pitchers’ average return to play timeline of 46 days. I don’t see Wilson being afforded that same timeline, so for the near future I have some concern this downward trend continues until Russell Wilson is able to bounce back from this injury.