During the season, I will transcribe Jene Bramel's Thursday injury video conference and provide you with his thoughts on which players to trust or fade for your lineups in the upcoming week's schedule of games. Click here to view Jene's Week 13 injury video conference. In addition to all pertinent injury news, Jene has in-depth details on the injuries to Sammy Watkins, Rob Gronkowski and Jordan Reed.
THURSDAY UPDATE
Stefon Diggs, MIN (knee) - Diggs is the only player of concern in the Thursday night matchup of Dallas at Minnesota. Diggs is expected to play despite not returning to a full practice yet this week. He nearly played last week and is looking like a go in a big contest Thursday night.
Result: Trust
QUARTERBACK
Jay Cutler CHI, (shoulder), is expected to have surgery for his torn labrum and will miss the rest of the season.
Aaron Rodgers, GB (hamstring), Andrew Luck, IND (concussion), Tom Brady, NE (knee), Trevor Siemian, DEN (foot), Derek Carr, OAK (finger), Tyrod Taylor, BUF (groin). All have missed or have been limited in practice this week, but are expected to play barring any setback. The one with the most concern is Trevor Siemian who has been in a walking boot both Wednesday and Thursday, but the hope is that he will be able to shed the boot and practice on Friday. He has played through other injuries which suggests he'll do the same here.
Aaron Rodgers has played with a hamstring strain in the past. Look for him to be limited in the pocket some and not scramble as much. Perhaps we'll see an increase in passes thrown out of bounds as a result but this should not affect his stat line too much.
Result: Trust (keep an eye on Siemian to see if he practices on Firday)
RUNNING BACK
Mark Ingram, NO (toe) - Ingram has not practiced for two straight days due to a toe injury. This sounds like it became more of an issue after the Week 12 game. His practice participation on Friday will be a big indicator but New Orleans has Tim Hightower waiting in the wings if Ingram can't go or if he sees limited reps.
Result: Fade for Thursday lineups and wait & see for Sunday.
Lamar Miller, HOU (ankle/ribs), Jonathan Stewart, CAR (rest), Latavius Murray, OAK (ankle), Devontae Booker, DEN (ankle) - There isn't much of a big concern with this group. All are expected to play this week.
Result: Trust
Chris Ivory JAC (hamstring), Ryan Mathews, PHI (knee), C.J. Prosise, SEA (shoulder) - All of these backs are not practicing at this time and their expected return is at least a week away if not more.
Result: Fade
Theo Riddick, DET (ankle) Riddick has participated in limited practices for quite some time. He may be back to a full practice later this week and have no problems being able to play this week at New Orleans.
Result: Trust
Alfred Blue, HOU (calf) Blue is back to practice this week, but a lot of times a player with a multi-week muscle strain can take a little more time to recover and be back to playing a week after. If he's active we should not see a lot of reps for Blue this week.
Result: Fade
DeAngelo Williams, PIT (knee) - Williams is still not practicing yet and may be another week or two before he is active.
Result: Fade
WIDE RECEIVER
Sammy Watkins, BUF (foot) - Watkins was active last week and played 25 of 55 offensive snaps. There's still some soreness in his foot and we're seeing that affect him with limited practices this week. He took just three snaps in practice on Thursday, but he's expected to be active again this week. He is trying to play through pain with a bone that isn't fully healed yet. Look for another 25-30 snaps with a reduced role. If it still continues to bother him after a few games, he may be shut down until he is fully healed.
Result: Fade
A.J. Green, CIN (hamstring) Green is not practicing, as expected. There may be some optimism out there suggesting he can come back sooner than expected but I doubt that's going to be the case. If anything, a late December return for Green seems more likely. A mid-grade injury needs more than 3-4 weeks to fully recover.
Result: Fade
Antonio Brown, Mike Evans and Larry Fitzgerald - This trio is on the injury report this week, but this is mainly to get them some rest. Should not be an issue here.
Result: Trust
T.Y. Hilton, IND (back) - We've seen Hilton have limited practice or no practice in the middle of the week and still play that week, so there's optimism that he'll be a go this week. He'll also have an extra day with the Monday night game in the schedule this week. He was back to a limited practice on Wednesday, so this is promising news.
Result: Fade for Thursday lineups and keep and monitor for Monday night.
DeVante Parker, MIA (back) - Unlike Hilton, Parker has not returned to practice yet and is looking like he may be sidelined. He was expected to see an increase in activity in practice this week, but it just has not happened yet. The needle is pointing down on Parker at this time.
Result: Fade
Michael Crabtree, OAK (ankle), Julian Edelman, NE (foot), Emmanuel Sanders, DEN (thumb), Kelvin Benjamin, CAR (shoulder), Marvin Jones, DET (thigh) - All are on the injury report but the expectation is that this group will play.
Result: Trust
Tyrell Williams, SD (shoulder), Williams did not practice on Thursday. This looks like a labrum/rotator cuff injury. Muscle weakness and range of motion is a concern here. Even without information on Friday's practice it's looking like Williams will be out for Week 13 against Tampa Bay.
Result: Fade
John Brown, ARI (hamstring) Consider him out indefintely with ongoing muscle cramps and poor healing that has been a complication of his sickle cell trait with the hamstring injury.
Result: Fade
Eddie Royal, CHI (toe) Royal played last week but was limited. He has not practiced this week and the thought is that Chicago may shut him down for a couple of weeks to get him fully healed.
Result: Fade
TIGHT END
Rob Gronkowski, NE (back) - Rob Gronkowski has been diagnosed with a herniated disc in his back. He may have been dealing with this injury off and on during the season, but now he's going to have surgery and be out at least 6-8 weeks seeing no contact until that time range is met. He could be back in 2-3 months and participate in the playoffs but the more likely scenario is that he will be out until 2017. He had similar back injuries in the past that took him multiple months to recover from, so it's believed we'll see the same result this time around.
Result: Fade
Jordan Reed, WAS (shoulder) - Adam Schefter is reporting that Reed is unlikely to play this week. He has a grade-3 shoulder separation which means three ligaments are torn. He has an unstable situation in his shoulder that can't be harnessed easily. In addition to playing through pain, he would also have to play through discomfort. Range of motion to move his arms above his head to catch the ball is reduced and there's always the threat of being hit to further complicate his injury. Right now it's looking like he will not play this week.
Result: Fade
Travis Kelce, KC (shoulder) and Jimmy Graham, SEA (knee) are on the injury report but both are expected to play this week.
Result: Trust
Martellus Bennett, NE (ankle) Bennett is still dealing with a high ankle sprain and he has tried to play through it, but has tweaked it a few times mid-game that has hampered his return to full health. He should be active, especially without Rob Gronkowski in the picture, but look for him to be somewhat limited once again.
Result: Trust him to play, but expect a reduced role.
Julius Thomas, JAC (back) It is looking like Thomas will be out for this week's game against Denver. This was not a good matchup to begin with, but he'll be out at least another week, possibly longer.
Result: Fade
Questions, suggestions and comments are always welcome to haseley@footballguys.com