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This week's column is full of reassuring notes on players progressing toward a return from early season injuries. Andre Brown, Shane Vereen, Jonathan Stewart, and EJ Manuel are all on track for on-time return. The news isn't as promising on Percy Harvin, however, and I feel the need to swim upstream again and temper expectations on Jimmy Graham after last week's impressive performance.
And Gronk is back on the injury radar. Thankfully, it's not arm related.
INSIDE THE INJURY REPORT
Jimmy Graham | foot | limited
Graham made the most of his three targets last week, but that doesn't mean the plantar fascia issue is behind him and he's closer to full strength this week. Anesthetic injections, taping, orthotic supports, stretching and limited practice reps will help. Ultimately, however, the only thing that will heal Graham's condition is rest -- and a lot of it. Most who suffer from this condition feel pain and stiffness for 1-3 months until feeling close to their former selves. I was impressed with Graham's ability to get onto the ball of his injured foot and push off last week, but he was clearly limited at times.
As I argued with Antonio Gates in past seasons, this injury is more of a snap-to-snap injury than game-to-game. You can bet that a smart defensive coordinator is going to approach Graham differently than the Bills did last week and make him work harder to get off the line of scrimmage and separate from coverage. If Graham continues to be as effective as he was last week, his success will be on the order of Adrian Peterson playing the last six weeks of 2012 with a sports hernia.
Arian Foster | hamstring | limited
Foster was listed as limited on today's injury report but only did very light individual work. Gary Kubiak told reporters that Foster didn't practice. That's not a good sign for his availability this week. There's a chance that he could ramp up his practice participation quickly and get ready to play by Sunday, but he's at best a game-time decision. Given that this injury is an aggravation of a prior strain and a history of multi-week recoveries from muscle strains, it's likely that Foster is another week or two from returning.
Rob Gronkowski | hamstring | limited
I was able to keep Gronkowski off the list of players to cover for a whole week. Unfortunately, he's back on the radar with a hamstring injury that's limiting his practice reps. We're not going to hear anything of note from the Patriots on Gronkowski before Sunday. Expect to follow the pregame warmup reports closely to make an informed decision.
DeMarco Murray | knee | full
Murray is back practicing fully and told reporters that he was ready to return. That all but rules out a setback last week and it's a very strong indicator that Murray feels his knee is stable when he cuts at speed. Barring any swelling or pain that develops overnight or late in the week, Murray will return Sunday. If he makes it through three consecutive full practices after last week's limited work, he should be in good enough condition to assume his usual workload.
Jamaal Charles | knee | DNP
Charles returned to last week's game after a knee contusion. Though he didn't practice today, there's been no indication that he could miss this week's game. Monitor his practice participation through the week, but he's likely to see his usual workload.
Percy Harvin | hip | DNP
Here's why I highlighted the wide range in the final stages of rehab from hip surgery and continued to include the "barring a setback" disclaimer in most of my Harvin blurbs over the past weeks. Standard protocols suggest that the return to sport-related activity rehab often begins nine weeks after surgery and can take as long as 6-8 weeks to complete. Reports had Harvin starting sport-related activity 1-2 weeks early (around Week 6-7). That pushed optimism that Harvin could return by Week 8 or 9.
That optimism was appropriate, but assumed that the re-conditioning phase of Harvin's rehab would progress smoothly. Unfortunately, with Pete Carroll telling reporters that Harvin had soreness in his hip after last week's limited practices and was back with the rehab group today, there's clearly been a bump in the road. How significant the bump will be is unknown and there's still a chance that he'll return before the Seahawks' Week 12 bye, but it's doubtful we see Harvin at all this week or in a full time role in Week 10.
Roddy White | hamstring / ankle | DNP
Prepare for White to be out another 1-2 weeks. Early reports raised the possibility of a mid-grade hamstring strain and White is still not back doing individual work. That implies that there's still more rehab to be done before White can begin re-conditioning. Don't expect to see White back in a major role until Week 11 at the earliest.
C.J. Spiller | ankle | limited
After practice, Spiiller told reporters that he's not yet back to normal and Doug Marrone would only say that Spiller remains day-to-day. The practice reports tomorrow and Friday will tell the tale. If Spiller continues to practice, there's a good chance he'll be active Sunday. But there are no guarantees. Sometimes, it's easier to hold a player out for a second week after he finally sees improvement in his condition after continuing to battle through in previous weeks.
Zac Stacy | ankle | DNP
There were no clear television replays of Stacy's injury. Multiple media reports have Stacy's injury as a low ankle sprain, but Jeff Fisher said that Stacy was continuing to undergo tests. It's not unusual to Fisher to remain vague about injuries. And there are degrees of low ankle sprains that could force Stacy to miss game time. Without more information, we're left to use practice participation as our guide. Until Stacy increases his practice work, consider him a game-time decision. Unfortunately, the short week leaves him one less day to get treatment.
Steve Johnson | hip | DNP
Johnson has successfully played through soft tissue strains before but even a low grade hip flexor strain may be too difficult to overcome. Receivers need to dip and change direction quickly and smoothly and a hip flexor strain will be a limiting factor.
Ben Tate | ribs | limited
Tate did more than Arian Foster according to beat writers. But he may not be any closer to playing than Foster. Multiple rib injuries will be extremely tough to overcome with painkillers -- Toradol may help, but it will be difficult to numb such a large area with a local anesthetic. If Tate is active, he's likely to be limited and could miss time frequently to let the pain after being hit settle.
AROUND THE TRAINING TABLE
Doug Martin is still not participating in practice. If he's not able to begin football-related conditioning and drills this week, it's hard to see him readying himself next week for a full Monday night workload in Week 10.
The Giants coaching staff seem to be less optimistic about a favorable outcome for David Wilson than Wilson himself. Wilson's return will depend entirely on how much healing has occurred since his last MRI and how comfortable the doctors caring for him are with his spinal stenosis. Meanwhile, Andre Brown has been practicing for two weeks and will be as close to football shape as he can be without actually playing in a game when he's eligible to return in Week 10.
Julius Thomas tweeted that his MRI was reassuring and he didn't suffer a high ankle sprain last week. He'll have the benefit of the bye week to get extra rest and treatment. If his tweet was accurate, he'll have a good chance to return at near full strength in Week 10.
All indications are that Jonathan Stewart is running well enough to return this week. Whether he's got enough left in his wheels to be productive remains to be seen. Expect the Panthers to use him on a limited snap count until he shows he's capable of more.
Shane Vereen and EJ Manuel have both been cleared to begin practicing again. Manuel isn't expected back for another 2-3 weeks at the earliest. Vereen is eligible to be return to the roster in two weeks and could be activated immediately after the New England Week 10 bye if his conditioning process goes smoothly.
Follow on Twitter @JeneBramel for breaking injury news, updates and analysis. Check back Sunday morning for my expectations on Jimmy Graham, Arian Foster and this week's other game-time injury decisions.