News and Notes 10-06-11


Quarterbacks

*-It's official, Chad Henne's shoulder injury will require season ending surgery and he has been placed on injured reserve. Matt Moore will start week 6 and as predicted Miami signed Sage Rosenfels to be the backup to Moore. Moore has approximately 3 games to prove he can be effective and if he isn't, that should be enough time for the Dolphins to feel comfortable inserting Rosenfels. But make no mistake, this is Matt Moore's job to lose.

*-Ben Roethlisberger put in a full practice today despite his foot sprain and he will definitely start week 5 baring any setbacks before Sunday.

*-Kerry Collins returned to a limited practice today for the Colts but it's not known if he's been cleared for game action after suffering a concussion week 3. It's a foregone conclusion that Curtis Painter will have to faceplant before the Colts think about re-inserting Collins as the starting QB anyway.


Running Backs

*-Brandon Jacobs missed practice again today and unless he practices tomorrow I'd be very concerned about his status for this week. Jacobs has a knee injury but it's believed to be minor and that the Giants are just being extra cautious with him. While I anticipate that he'll be fine, I'll have an update on Jacobs in my fantasy football blog in my NFC Team by Team News and Notes on Saturday afternoon so be looking for that. If he were to actually miss the game, Ahmad Bradshaw would get the bulk of the load and we'd likely see a bit of Danny Ware and maybe even rookie Da'rel Scott.

*-Rashard Mendenhall didn't practice again today and while not ruled out for week 5 yet, it does appear that he is not going to be able to play. With Mewelde Moore already ruled out because of his ankle injury, Isaac Redman would dominate the RB duties this week with some of Jonathan Dwyer sprinkled in if Mendenhall doesn't play. Be looking in my blog again on Saturday for my AFC Team by Team News and Notes for an update on Mendenhall and his status.

*-Neither Ben Tate nor Derrick Ward practiced today and while neither has been officially ruled out I still am firm in the belief that Chris Ogbannaya will be the top backup to Arian Foster this week. Other than Foster there's no RB on Houston to start this week for fantasy purposes.

*-Desperate to add any type of spark to their rushing attack, Kansas City says they may increase the workload of RB Jackie Battle. Battle is a big RB (6'2, 238 lbs) and while he lacks speed, so does current starter Thomas Jones. At least Battle is younger, bigger, fresher, and has a lot less mileage on his legs than Jones. A couple of weeks ago I thought they might turn to LeRon McClain, but they apparently have no plans to do that, instead opting for Battle to get a chance first. There's not a lot of potential upside with Battle so I wouldn't be rushing out to waiver wires to grab him, but in deep leagues where you're always looking for the next surprise RB, it could be worth the flier.

*-Danny Woodhead is considered doubtful to play week 5 after missing practice again today. I'm feeling like a broken record saying this, but Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen are very likely the future of New England RB's by mid-season while Woodhead and BGE are slowly going to be phased out if the rookies can hold up and produce.

*-With the Jets saying they want to get back to a "ground and pound" rushing attack, if Shonn Greene doesn't start producing better numbers it won't be a surprise if we start seeing more of Joe McKnight and even rookie Bilal Powell very soon. Keep them in mind if Greene struggles this week.

*-Earnest Graham showed up as a surprise limited participant in practice today because of a reported hamstring injury. While the severity of this is unknown, it could mean the Bucs finally have an excuse to give Kregg Lumpkin some more playing time as the 3rd down RB this week. We shall see.

*-Beanie Wells and Frank Gore were both limited in practice today but are fully expected to be fine for week 5.

*-Joseph Addai didn't practice but it's believed the Colts were just giving him a day off since they are on a short week. He should be fine for week 5.


Wide Receivers

*-The Rams have confirmed that Danny Amendola has a torn triceps muscle and will require surgery. He'll be placed on injured reserve and his season is done. While rookie Austin Pettis is expected to take over the slot duties, he is not likely to have any type of fantasy impact. As I've stated previously, Danario Alexander and Mike Sims-Walker are the best fantasy bets at WR from St. Louis, and even then they aren't great bets to be consistent every week fantasy considerations. They are more like high risk/medium reward types. The Rams signed Nick Miller to provide depth.

*-Vincent Jackson missed practice again today and there's been rumors of what they are now calling a hamstring strain possibly being serious enough to either make him inactive or be limited. Now we've heard this type of rhetoric before with players and injuries (just remember last week with Frank Gore and his ankle injury) so definitely be looking at the Saturday news and notes in my blog for an update on Jackson. On the good news front for the Chargers, Malcom Floyd has been practicing without restrictions and appears to be over the minor injuries that plagued him the last two weeks.

*-Donald Driver practiced in full today and is now expected to be fine to play week 5 despite a knee injury. There goes more of the potential fantasy upside of both James Jones and Randall Cobb. I understand being respectful for what Driver has done for the Packers in his career, but his presence on the field only hinders the development of younger, better players.

*-Devery Henderson missed practice today with a calf injury. He may not play this week. Even if he does with both Marques Colston and Lance Moore back, Henderson is a poor bet to have any fantasy upside anyway. Be sure to keep him on your bench this week.

*-After being limited yesterday in practice, Plaxico Burress was a full participant today. His elbow injury is very minor and he makes a strong flex start or WR3 this week given his matchup against a hapless Patriots pass defense.

*-Mike Williams of Seattle missed practice again today and is sounding very unlikely to play this week. It's unknown how the snaps would be split up between Ben Obomanu, Golden Tate, and Doug Baldwin if Williams were to be held out. Just do yourself a favor and don't trust any of them unless you're forced into no other options.

*-Among WR's who were limited in practice but are expected to be fine to play this week are Jacoby Jones, Michael Crabtree, and Early Doucet.


Tight Ends

*-Todd Heap missed practice today with a hamstring injury. He practiced some yesterday so it's unsure if this was just him being rested or if he aggravated it. His status for week 5 is unknown. Be sure to check those Saturday news and notes in my blog for an update on whether you'll be able to count on Heap this week.

*-Aaron Hernandez returned to a limited practice today and that increases his chances of being able to play this week. Hernandez is still not fully recovered from his knee sprain, and he's likely to be considered Questionable on tomorrow's official injury report and may be a game time decision. He's worth waiting for but the Patriots play a late game this Sunday and if you can't wait, you should be looking elsewhere unless he puts in a full practice tomorrow.

*-It now appears that San Diego will sit Antonio Gates until they come out of their week 6 bye. We'll revisit Gates in 2 weeks.

*-Jeremy Shockey practiced in limited fashion today and could be active this week despite a concussion suffered week 4. He hasn't received medical clearance to play yet though and will need to pass independent tests by Sunday to be active.

*-Luke Stocker of Tampa Bay is expected to miss week 5 with a knee injury.

*-Zach Miller of Seattle practiced today and should be fine to play this week. But this is how far he's fallen in terms of fantasy relevance; I mentioned Luke Stocker first.