Every week when the dinner bell rings on Friday evening, we'll be here to provide you a comprehensive commentary of the key injuries for the NFL weekend to follow. For those injuries that go right down to the wire, drop by our Fantasy Fanhouse expert live chat from 10:30am to 1pm EST every Sunday and we'll take care of you on those bloody game-time decisions. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments.
The Atlanta Falcons
Roddy White - This season's superstar bust-out receiver missed Wednesday and Thursday practice with a back injury. The deep back bruise is not expected to cause White to miss time and he practiced on Friday, but keep him in the corner of your eye just in case.
The Baltimore Ravens
Derrick Mason - Despite a partially dislocated shoulder, Mason made good last week with seven catches for 82 yards. He should be good to go this week as well.
The Cleveland Browns
Kellen Winslow - Quickly becoming one of this year's leading fantasy frustrators, Kellen Winslow has not returned to practice despite an MRI indicating no structural damage in his shoulder. While normally the positive MRI would be a good sign, Coach Crennel says the only way he sees the field is if he shows full motion in the shoulder, which I assume means actually practicing. You might be wise to plan on another option should Junior disappoint yet again.
Brady Quinn - Quinn suffered a small fracture his right index finger last week against the Browns. While Quinn played with the injury and should play again this week, this is enough to bench him if you previously considered him for the starting spot this week.
The Dallas Cowboys
Felix Jones - All hopes of a Felix Jones sleeper playoff run are officially dashed as he was placed on injured reserve for the season.
The Denver Broncos
Selvin Young - It never ends with this bloody backfield; Selvin Young returned to Thursday practice in a limited capacity, making Peyton Hillis a little riskier for a start this week. Young is not expected to see the field this week, but unless you really need to fill a hole, it's probably wise to steer clear of this backfield given the potential splits between Hillis, Young, and Tatum Bell.
The Houston Texans
Matt Schaub - Schaub looks to be sidelined for another couple weeks with Sage Rosenfels filling in during the meantime. Schaub suffered ligament damage in the knee, so it's probably not worth holding onto him considering he'll be coming back just in time for the fantasy playoffs and his starting job might be in question by then.
The New Orleans Saints
Reggie Bush - We're getting ready to start carbon-dating Reggie Bush's knee injury. Bush was slated to come back two weeks ago, but has yet to practice at full speed and is uncertain yet again this week. While it is too early to make a ruling, proceed with caution as he does not seem ready to go quite yet.
Marques Colston - Unfortunately, Marques Colston continues to be bothered with the knee and has not been practicing full speed. Things look good in terms of his likelihood of playing this weekend, but against a tough Green Bay pass defense, his start-ability is questionable this week.
The New York Giants
Plaxico Burress - The perpetual pain-in-the-ass, Plaxico Burress, came down with a mysterious hamstring injury mid-week and is now listed as questionable. More importantly, it appears Tom Coughlin is fed up with Plax's inability to practice through minor injuries on a regular basis. In other words, Coughlin is finally realizing what we have all thought for years now; Plaxico fakes injuries during the week, because football practice sucks.
Brandon Jacobs - Jacobs' knee injury originally looked suspicious given the lack of disclosure from the Giants camp, but Jacobs practiced better than he expected and remains entirely optimistic as to his availability this week. Plan to start Jacobs this week, but set the alarm for 12:30 EST to double-check just in case it looks as though you'll need to plug someone in before the one o'clock games start.
The Oakland Raiders
Darren McFadden - McFadden should see a decent workload this week. I'd expect McFadden to post some decent numbers this week against Oakland's arch-nemesis, the Broncos.
The Philadelphia Eagles
Brian Westbrook - Westbrook regressed back in his injury status with swelling in the knee and soreness in the ankle. At this point, Westbrook remains a game-time decision, but Andy Reid already indicated that Correll Buckhalter will receive an increased workload. Check in at game-time, but Westbrook appears to be in pretty bad shape for this week's game.
The San Francisco 49ers
Arnaz Battle - I know everyone is going to be heartbroken by this one, but Arnaz Battle will be inactive for Sunday's game against Dallas.
The St. Louis Rams
Steven Jackson - Looks like Steven Jackson owners can kiss their playoff hopes goodbye as he will miss his fourth game in five contests this weekend. Jackson's lingering thigh injury is officially becoming a season-killer at this point.
The Tampa Bay Bucs
Earnest Graham - Graham is officially hanging up the cleats for the season as he headed to the injured reserve after suffering an ankle injury against the Vikings. Graham's value was dwindling anyway, so hopefully owners seized the opportunity and swiped Warrick Dunn on the cheap.
The Washington Redskins
Clinton Portis - Portis missed practice Wednesday and Thursday, while going very light on Friday, but given the fact that he played last week with the injury, he should be available. Consider him a game-time decision with the odds in favor of a start.
