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MONDAY EVENING/TUESDAY MORNING
REPORT
This report includes all the early injury reports from the
previous weekend's action, plus injury updates on other players
missing game time. We also give analysis from a fantasy
point of view on some of the players. These updates are gathered directly from
team sources.
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HERE.
Week Twelve Monday Injury and News
Update 9/22-9/23/03
NFC North
Lions: Lots of Players Injured
Starting
LCB Andre Goodman suffered a season-ending shoulder
injury during Sunday's loss to the Vikings.
"Andre Goodman re-dislocated his shoulder," said head coach
Steve Mariucci. "That's our third dislocated shoulder of
the season. He did that in college and had surgery on it then
and re-injured it. It's unlikely that we're going to have him
back this year at all."
Veteran CB Otis Smith is expected to move into
Goodman's starting role.
KR/PR Eddie Drummond suffered ankle and knee injuries
on a return during the third quarter. He's doubtful for this
week's game.
"Eddie Drummond was hurt on the kickoff return," Mariucci
said. "He's got an MCL (knee) and a high ankle sprain. "We
think the high ankle sprain is going to be the injury that is
going to be the more lengthy rehab. You know how those are,
they could be a matter of several weeks so we'll just have to
wait and keep our fingers crossed."
Backup WR Az-Zahir Hakim is expected to take over punt
return duties.
"In the meantime, Az Hakim will be the punt returner.
(Starting CB) Dre' Bly is also capable of that, " said
Mariucci. "We had to choose in the game who would do that and
I thought we would be better to have Az because we're getting
a little light on the corners, so we kept Dre' out of (return
duties) the last game."
Starting QB Joey Harrington hit his finger on the
helmet of C Dominic Raiola during the follow through of
a pass.
"Joey Harrington's finger, as you know it popped out and we
popped it back in and it's still swollen today and he's a
little sore, just general soreness in the finger," Mariucci
said. "We won't have him do anything today, we'll just have
him rest. He'll probably get some running in when we go out
and stretch and run, but he won't do any throwing."
"(Backup WR) Shawn Jefferson bruised his ribs pretty
good and he's a tough guy," the head coach began. "He wants to
play today, but he's unable to breath so it will be a while I
think. Shawn is very willing to do whatever you what him to do
and he really wants to play, but he is going to be sore for
while."
Starting RG Ray Brown and starting TE Mikhael Ricks
also sustained injuries for the Lions Sunday. Brown, who has
been playing with an injured elbow, injured a chest muscle.
"Ray Brown sprained a peck muscle, he came out of the game,"
Mariucci said. "He's been playing with a hyper- extended
elbow, too, so he is kind of wrapped up and packed in ice a
little bit. He is also a guy we're going to watch this week.
Mikhael Ricks is sort of limping around," Mariucci said. "He's
got a foot sprain and a sore knee. We won't do much with him
early in the week, but he should be okay."
Packers: Injury Updates
Starting RG Marco Rivera was pleased to find out that
X-Rays on his eye socket were negative.
"It's all black and blue, and it's still a little blurry,"
Rivera said, "But I just left the doctor's office and he said
that when the swelling goes down and the blood goes away, I'll
be back to normal."
Also an MRI on starting WR Robert Ferguson's knee
showed no additional damage to the sprained MCL he suffered
two weeks ago. Ferguson aggravated the injury on Sunday.
"It hasn't changed," said head coach Mike Sherman.
"It's not loose. It's tender though. When his leg gets torqued
it seems to resurrect the pain in his leg."
Vikings: Culpepper and Moss Updates
Starters QB Daunte Culpepper and WR
Randy Moss left yesterday’s game with
injuries. Head coach Mike Tice updated their
status today.
“Our injury report looks like this. Daunte’s (Culpepper)
back, he has multiple transverse process fractures, the little
bone that comes off the rib and the spine. He has three of
those, and he’ll be listed as doubtful. Randy Moss continues
to have problems with his back; he’ll be listed as
questionable, but I do anticipate that Randy will play this
week. That back’s been bugging him since the Green Bay game on
and off, and it really just got too bad yesterday for him to
even do much really. He battled through it though; he is a
warrior.”
Tice won't know Culpepper's true status until very late in
the week.
“Well it will be up to how he can play Friday. If he’s out
there Friday and he’s having a hard time throwing the ball –
he could not throw the ball on the sideline after he came out
with that injury, and as time went by and I mean only minutes,
it got worse and worse and worse, and it became evident to him
that he wasn’t going to be able to go back in the football
game. So if it’s like that on Friday, then we’ll have to hold
him out and he’ll be listed as the third quarterback.”
Backup QB
Gus Frerotte would start if Culpepper is
unable to play. Tice said his starting quarterback was feeling
better today.
“He was able to lift his leg up, his knee up to his chest,”
said Tice. “Yesterday he couldn’t do much of anything.”
How long will it be before Culpepper’s back heals?
“It could be anything from two weeks to six weeks,
depending on the toughness of the player,” said the Vikings'
head coach. “So if that’s any indication, he’ll be back very
shortly because he is a very tough football player.”
Tice said Moss was in bad shape after yesterday’s game.
“He was terrible. He couldn’t move; he couldn’t put his
drawers on after the game, so he was hurting pretty bad. We’ll
just have to give him some rest. He needs some rest. He
battled last week through it in practice. It was obvious to me
last week in practice it was bothering him. We gave him
Thursday walk-through off. He took a couple of reps at the U
on Friday; he was still clearly not himself. He tried to talk
himself through the injury, but as the game progressed it got
worse and worse. Finally in the four minute drill we actually
took him out at the end of the game.”
Tice will hold Moss out of practice until Friday but he
expects him to play.
“Oh he’s playing. Are you kidding me? I can’t be without my
two best players. I might be without one of them, but I’m
certainly not going to go out there without two of my best
players.”
As for his club’s other injured players…
“ (Backup DL) Billy Lyon strained his left
calf in the game, didn’t go back in. He’ll be listed as
questionable, and that will give (backup DL) Chuck
Wiley a chance to be up this week, give him a chance
to play. (Backup LB) Nick Rogers strained his right
glut, contusion strain. He’ll be listed as probable. On the
other injuries, Jack Brewer, we expect him to play this week.
He’ll be listed as questionable. (RB) Doug Chapman
will be listed as probable, and (starting WR) D’Wayne
Bates, although he won’t be 100%, will be listed as
probable also. So we’re a little banged up in the receiver
core. The quarterback situation, we won’t hold back anything
if Gus is the guy. I know Daunte is going to do the best he
can to treat that injury aggressively. It’s a very painful
injury, but it certainly is one that you can play with, so
we’ll see how that goes, and as the week progresses, we’ll see
how he does Friday. If he can take any work Friday and we feel
comfortable with him, we’ll go with it. If not then we’ll rest
him.”
NFC South
Buccaneers: Injury Updates
Head coach
Jon Gruden said starting MLB Shelton Quarles, who
fractured his left forearm the week before the season began,
would be questionable for their October 6 game against
Indianapolis.
"We're going to do some x-rays later on here in the next
couple of days and see exactly what kind of progress he has
made," said Gruden. "His improvement is significant, and we're
encouraged by where he is. There is a chance that he plays
against Indianapolis, and we'll list him as questionable."
Backup WR Joe Jurevicius is not expected to play in
that game, which comes after this week's bye, but Gruden isn't
ruling him out yet.
"We'll upgrade Joe Jurevicius to doubtful for the Indianapolis
game," said Gruden. "He's going to get his leg out of the cast
here in the next couple of days. Although it's still very
doubtful that he'll play against the Colts, he is making some
improvement, and when he gets the cast off, we'll have a
better indication of where he really is."
Starting RB Michael Pittman sprained his left wrist
during Sunday's win against the Falcons.
"He'll be obviously probable for the game against
Indianapolis," said the Buccaneers' head coach. "(Starting OL)
Cosey Coleman has a right ankle sprain. He also is
probable for the Colts game."
On Tuesday, the club signed former Chief WR Marvin "Snoop"
Minnis to a two-year deal and released backup WR
Charles Lee.
Falcons: Injury Updates
Head coach Dan Reeves updated the status of several of
the team's injured players on Monday.
"From the injury standpoint, we've got some guys that have
some injury problems and that's the thing that's concerned us
a little bit because Carolina's got the week off. They're
going to be healthy and rested, but I think we came out of the
game in fairly decent shape. We've got some people listed as
questionable. Those are: (backup) TE Brian Kozlowski,
(starting OLB) Sam Rogers, (backup S) Gerald
McBurrows, (backup DT) Ellis Johnson, and (starting
DT) Ed Jasper. Hopefully, those guys will be ready to
go by the game this week."
As for an update on injured starting QB Michael Vick…
"I really don't know," said Reeves. "I know he's walking
better. He started walking and he told me yesterday that it
feels a lot better. But I don't know what the update is;
you'll have to ask the doctors."
Saints: Team Comes out of Loss With Few Injuries;
Horn Held in Check
Although the club came out of last week's game at
Tennessee with a loss, they didn't suffer the high amount of
injuries they did in previous games.
"There is nothing major from yesterday's game.
(Starting DT Johnathan) Sullivan will probably
be out this week and (rookie LB) Cie Grant will be out
this week. (Starting OLB Sedrick) Hodge is
making good improvement and (starting CB) Dale Carter
came in today for the first time. Hopefully, he can start
working in three or four weeks," head coach Jim Haslett said.
Elsewhere, starting WR Joe Horn wasn't really a
factor in the game. What did the Titans do to limit his
opportunities?
"They doubled him some, but it was a
combination of everything. We didn't have a lot of
opportunities. The first play of the game we had a flea
flicker that was supposed to go to Joe, but they had two guys
on him. They didn't really take him out. The opportunities we
had to get him the ball, there wasn't enough time to get him
the ball. Aaron was under pressure a lot of the time when we
had some patterns where Joe was open. We just couldn't get him
the football," the head coach said.
Haslett added that he expects RB Ki-Jana Carter to
re-sign with the club.
NFC West
Cardinals: Injury Updates
Head
coach Dave McGinnis updated his club's injuries on
Monday.
"(Starting DT) Wendell Bryant has a high ankle sprain
and those things take a while. (Backup WR) Nathan Poole,
they found his contact, I think it was somewhere up around his
brain. That thing got lost. It is hard when you need a wide
receiver and you've got trainers and doctors on the sidelines
searching for his contact. He'll have to wear a shield. (WR)
Anquan (Boldin) has got a bruised ass. He played
the whole game with that and it is very painful. This guy is
tough, tough, tough. He should be okay."
Backup WR Jason McAddley will be out "a while" with a
torn hamstring.
"He's got a hickory smoked ham back there," said McGinnis. "It
smoked up on him pretty well back there."
Rams: Faulk Update
Head
coach Mike Martz said on Monday that starting RB
Marshall Faulk would miss four-to-six weeks with a broken
hand.
"He's broken two bones in his left hand and they are very firm
about when he will be able to come back and when he won't be
able to comeback. Minimum of four more than likely six weeks
is what they're talking about."
Faulk will also have his right knee scoped on Wednesday
to clean up loose bodies and smooth rough edges of his knee
cartilage.
Faulk, who has a fracture of the fourth and fifth
metacarpal of the left hand, is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. No
surgery is required on the hand injury, and his hand has been
placed in a splint.
Backup RB Lamar Gordon will replace him as a starter.
"I feel very good about (Gordon)," Martz said. "I feel
outstanding about him. I thought he played exceptionally well.
He did some things that take a certain level of awareness in
that game. He made some plays that just weren't there."
AFC East
Bills: Henry
Update
Starting
RB Travis Henry suffered a rib contusion on Sunday
night against the Dolphins.
"Travis has a rib contusion. Today it's better than it
was yesterday. We'll take a look at it and see how it is on
Wednesday. We'll just kind of monitor that about every couple
of days and see how much progress he's making."
head coach Gregg Williams said Monday.
X-rays on Henry's ribs were negative.
"He's had x-rays and (his ribs) are not broken. It's
too early to tell now (if he'll play Sunday). It was a lead
play where he got driven in the ground and the ball jammed up
under his ribs."
Also Henry's backup, Sammy Morris, had surgery to
repair a sports hernia and will miss 6-8 weeks. That leaves
backup Joe Burns as their only healthy RB.
"Sammy Morris last week after the Jacksonville game
strained that groin a little bit more during the game. He came
back on Tuesday and it was tight. Wednesday's practice he got
through it but we thought we'd try to rest him. As we got
through the week we got some further tests and had a guy down
there in Florida take a look at him today and he has sports
hernia. The guy had a slot open so we went ahead and had
surgery on that today. He'll be here tomorrow and it will be a
few weeks on that. It was a groin injury that he's been
battling through for most of the regular season. He's been
continuing to play with it but he just couldn't get over the
hump and we actually found out that it was a little bit more
than we thought."
The club will look to sign another RB this week. RB Ken
Simonton could be activated off their practice squad.
Backup FB Phil Crosby suffered a cracked fibula against
the Dolphins.
Patriots: Two Starters Placed on IR
Two starters, OLB Rosevelt Colvin (hip) and G
Mike Compton (foot) were placed on injured reserve Monday.
Another starter, NT Ted Washington (broken leg), is out
"a while" according to head coach Bill Belichick.
Backup DL Rick Lyle replaced him on Sunday but backup
DL Jarvis Green and rookie DL Ty Warren could
also see more action at the position.
The Pats re-signed RB Patrick Pass and claimed OL
Wilbert Brown off waivers.
When starting OLB Mike Vrabel left Sunday's game with a
right arm injury, it left Tedy Bruschi on the field as
the only starting linebacker left from the corps that started
in the season opener.
Starting WR David Patten left Sunday's game in the
first quarter with a right leg injury. Belichick did not
update his status today.
AFC North
Bengals: Dillon blames turf for Injury
Starting RB Corey Dillon is blaming his pulled groin on
the playing surface of Cincinnati's Paul Brown Stadium.
"I've got respect for the groundskeepers, but that's not
acceptable," said Dillon, who is questionable for Sunday's
game in Cleveland after straining his left groin against
Pittsburgh. "That field was awful. Just terrible. It could be
worse. I could have torn something. Go back and look at some
of the cutups and see how big the chunks of field are coming
up when people are planting and cutting. The field was like a
12th man out there."
He still hopes to play this week.
"Don't ever count me out. It's doubtful I won't play," Dillon
made it a point to say.
"He's got a strain," said head coach Marvin Lewis.
"That's what I would term it as. He'll be day-to-day. We have
to see where he is with that, and see where we are with the
rest of our guys as far as the actives and inactives. It is
not as severe as maybe it could have been. I think he caught
himself as he slipped on the turf."
This is the second injury Dillon has suffered in the last
week. Dillon hyper extended his knee in Oakland during Week
Two.
Lewis also said he expects backup RB Rudi Johnson
(thigh) to be ready this week. He's missed their first three
games. On the down side, Lewis stated he believes WR T.J.
Houshmandzadeh (hamstring) is going to miss this Sunday.
He also didn't sound confident about TE Matt Schobel
(hamstring) after he aggravated his injury in the first half
yesterday.
Browns: Holcomb Update
Starting QB Kelly Holcomb suffered a hairline
fracture of the fibula in his right leg during Sunday's 13-12
win over the 49ers.
"He had x-rays at halftime and the first set displayed
nothing," said head coach Butch Davis. "We had to get
another set of x-rays. That is why he came out late from
halftime and why we had (backup QB) Tim (Couch)
warming up. We were waiting on feedback from the doctors, who
later came out and said that he was fine and that he only had
a tiny hairline fracture."
Davis added he expects Holcomb to practice on Wednesday.
Last year Holcomb missed three weeks with a broken tibia.
Davis said the team was "hopeful" about backup WR Dennis
Northcutt practicing this week. He missed Sunday's game
with a chest injury.
AFC South
Colts: Offensive Lineman Injured
The Colts came
out of Sunday's win with a banged up offensive line. Starting
RT Ryan Diem sustaining a high-ankle sprain and his
backup, Adam Meadows sprained his knee
"Adam seems to be a little better (than Diem), but we'll see
what happens," said head coach Tony Dungy. "If neither
one can go, then Makoa can play and we'll be fine."
Backup OL Makoa Freitas would have to be brought up
from the practice squad.
According to Dungy, starting DE Dwight Freeney (high
ankle sprain) may play this week at the Saints on Sunday
night.
"Dwight, I think, has a chance to play," Dungy said. "Right
now, they're (trainers) saying he has a chance to go."
Jaguars: Brunell Injured; Receiver Signed
Head coach Jack Del Rio updated the status of QB
Mark Brunell's injured elbow on Monday.
"The major injury is Mark's (Brunell) elbow. We had to put
some stitches in there and we'll have to see where he is in
the next couple of days."
Del Rio said if he's healthy enough, Brunell would definitely
start. Rookie QB Byron Leftwich replaced him on Sunday
and played well.
On Tuesday, the club signed free agent WR Troy Edwards
to help their struggling offense.
Titans: Injury Updates
Head coach Jeff Fisher updated the status of
his walking wounded one day after their victory over the
Saints.
"(Starting
S) Lance (Schulters) came out for a play with a
shoulder, he’s okay today. He’s a little sore, but he’s all
right. We had a couple other things that are minor that won’t
amount to anything. The game ball went to (starting G)
Benji Olson. I was reluctant, hesitant, didn’t want to set
a precedent once again. But considering where he was last
Sunday and the progress he made and the way he played was very
impressive. He did a nice job up front along with the rest of
his teammates, but I thought Benji played well offensively
with the injury."
"(Rookie CB) Andre Woolfolk played 34 plays and was
okay. He was involved in some tackles. He was in the right
place, he came back and he had a few little things. For the
most part looked like he had been paying attention and knew
what to do and did it, so it was good to get him back. (Rookie
RB) Chris Brown was up and available, we just didn’t
get an opportunity to put him in the ballgame. Hopefully we’ll
get another week of practice under him and look for an
opportunity to get him in the ballgame this coming weekend.
(Starting DT) Albert (Haynesworth) is improving.
He’s still got some swelling. Range of motion is improving,
strength is coming back and (starting TE) Frank's (Wycheck)
better. I don’t have anything as far as Frank’s status this
week but he is better."
As for
starting QB Steve McNair?
"He was okay. His finger was sore and his knee was a little
sore. He twisted it at one point in the ballgame, but he’ll be
on the practice field come Wednesday."
AFC West
Broncos: Injury Updates
Head coach Mike Shanahan updated the status of
his injured players after Monday night's win over the Raiders.
"(Starting RB) Clinton Portis basically has what he had
last week – a bruised chest, and he’s sore. (Starting FB)
Mike Anderson had a knee injury. At first, Greek (team
trainer Steve Antonopulos) thought it might be a torn
ACL or MCL, but Mike felt pretty good about it after the
game. So we’ll wait and see, but it looks positive. (Starting
S) Kenoy Kennedy has a badly sprained ankle, and his
injury is probably the worst out of the bunch. Clinton Portis
didn’t hurt himself any worse than he was a week ago. I’d say
Kenoy Kennedy is very questionable for next week, just from
seeing him on the sidelines and talking to Greek. Like I said,
Mike Anderson, we’ll have a better idea of his injury tomorrow
after Greek takes a look and he is examined by the doctors.”
Portis spoke about getting hurt after the game.
“My ribs popped out, probably in the first few plays of the
game. I got them popped back in, and continued to play through
the pain. Pretty soon it started to tighten up again, and had
to come out and miss the second half. Fortunately, Griff
(rookie RB Quentin Griffin) came in and finished things
up really well. If it had been a crucial situation in the
game, I would have come back in. Coach Shanahan stressed that
we must be prepared for anything all week long, and
fortunately, our guy stepped up when they needed to.”
Chargers: Offensive Line Banged up
Starting ORT Vaughn Parker (knee) suffered a
tear of the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments
in his left knee in last Sunday's game against the Ravens and
will miss the remainder of the 2003 season. The extent of the
injury was determined and repaired Tuesday in an arthroscopic
procedure performed by team physician, Dr. David Chao,
at the OASIS Sports Medical Group. The recovery period is 4-6
months.
Starting G Solomon Page (ankle) will have his status
updated later this week as will backup WR Tim Dwight
(knee).
Raiders: Few Injuries
The only injuries reported by the Raiders during
Monday night's loss were: starting ORT Lincoln Kennedy
(strained calf) left the game and was replaced by second-year
OT Langston Walker. KR/RB Ronney Jenkins
re-injured his ankle.
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