As teams prepare for Week 2, Wednesday brought another wave of injury news around the league.
Seattle got a bit of a break at quarterback: Sam Darnold, who left Wednesday’s season opener with a glute issue, has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals but will not be placed on injured reserve. That means he’s expected to be available again within a game or two once cleared. In the meantime Drew Lock will start; he steadied the offense in relief on Wednesday, completing 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown in a second-half comeback against New England, so Seattle’s attack should be largely intact while Darnold heals.
San Francisco announced that rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling has been placed on injured reserve after ankle surgery and is expected to be sidelined for about 10 weeks, per coach Kyle Shanahan. Stribling first hurt the ankle late in the first quarter of Week 1 against the Rams, briefly returned and then was carted off in the second quarter. His loss compounds an already-thinned receiver room—Ricky Pearsall is out for the season—leaving the offense to lean on veterans Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle until Stribling can return late in the year.
Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow will appear on this week’s injury report after being limited in the open portion of Wednesday practice due to back tightness, but he downplayed concerns about missing Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans. Burrow said he didn’t feel pain until after the game and called any suggestion he’d sit out “ridiculous,” though it’s unclear how much he’ll participate in practice the rest of the week. The Bengals travel to Houston on Sunday, Sept. 20.
And at Minnesota, uncertainty remains at quarterback as Kyler Murray (in concussion protocol) worked a limited practice Wednesday ahead of the trip to Chicago. Coach Kevin O’Connell said the team will rely on league and medical clearance before deciding whether Murray can play; if he isn’t cleared, Carson Wentz—who led a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback in Week 1, finishing 12 of 19 for 133 yards and three touchdowns, with two scoring passes to Justin Jefferson—would be expected to start.
Fan take: Quarterback health is the single biggest near-term swing factor for teams and fantasy rosters, so these updates matter a lot for matchups and playoff outlooks. How well backups like Drew Lock and Carson Wentz perform will shape teams’ momentum and could determine whether contenders stay afloat while their starters recover.
Source: www.foxsports.com
