Play Now Football Pick'em Play Now College Football Pick'em Start or Sit (AFC Home Games) Talking the business of sports If there's one thing the past few weeks have taught me, it's that just because a player returns to a game with an injury doesn't mean we can just ignore it.
We got a stark reminder of that when Ja'Marr Chase suffered a serious hip injury after missing just a few snaps in Week 7, and we might have gotten another one this past week with Jonathan Taylor .
I noted Taylor left Sunday's game briefly to get his ankle re-taped, but he came back without missing too much time, so it didn't seem like much to be concerned with.
However, Taylor missed Wednesday's practice with the injury, and while there isn't necessarily much reason to think it's a serious setback, Colts coach Frank Reich did acknowledge that his status for Sunday's game against the Patriots isn't clear yet.
The Colts just traded Nyheim Hines at Tuesday's deadline, so this could shape up to be another week where Deon Jackson takes on a significant role.
Jackson played 67% of the snaps the last time the Colts were without Taylor and Hines, and while I don't think we can or should expect a repeat of that game's 10 catches, he does figure to be the lead back with 15-touch upside if Taylor is out, an that makes him a viable starting option even against a tough matchup.
We can't make that call yet, of course, and if you have to decide between Jackson and either Dameon Pierce or Miles Sanders in tonight's game, you go with the TNF guys and don't think twice about it.
Otherwise, Jackson could force you into some tough calls this weekend.
If you have any questions you need answers to, make sure you subscribe to the Fantasy Football Today YouTube channel and join Adam Aizer, Dave Richard and I at 2 p.m.
ET for our start/sit live stream .
We'll be discussing all of the latest news and answering your toughest lineup questions there.
In tomorrow's newsletter, I'll have previews of every game on the Week 9 schedule, including the latest injury updates, plus all of the key takeaways from tonight's game.
Get ready for Week 9 with all of our preview content here: Here's what else today's newsletter will cover: There are the obvious calls, and then there are the ones you need help with.
Dave Richard goes through each game to identify the most interesting matchups and biggest lineup dilemmas for Week 9.
Here are some of his top picks for this week.
You can find the rest of his advice for Week 9 here : All lines from Caesars Sportsbook The Eagles have blown out pretty much every team they've faced so far this season, and they probably haven't faced a team as overmatched as this Texans team right now.
I'm pretty sure the 14-point line here is the largest for any game this season, and it's in favor of a road team, which goes to show how big Vegas thinks the gap between these two is.
The Texans managed just 161 yards of total offense last week -- 90 of which came on their final drive.
This offense feels pretty hopeless right now, especially with Nico Collins out and Brandin Cooks in doubt.
Dameon Pierce is worth starting as an RB2, but he needed that last drive to get anywhere close to a good game last week.
This offense is limiting his upside and giving him a very low floor.
The Big News: Keenan Allen apparently suffered some kind of setback with his hamstring -- again! -- during the Week 8 bye, and is now at real risk of missing this week's game.
He was out from Week 2 through Week 6, then played just half of Week 7, so you can't say the Chargers haven't been cautious.
For Allen's part, he hasn't been overly optimistic when he talks about the injury, and Wednesday he said he won't play until the hamstring is 100% healed .
That means he's at real risk of missing this game, and with Mike Williams (ankle) likely out several weeks, Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense could be very shorthanded.
Josh Palmer will likely be a top-24 WR for me if Allen and Williams are both out against a very bad Falcons secondary, while Gerald Everett seems locked in as a top-12 TE at least until the Chargers receiving corps is back to full health.
Who knows when that will be.
So much for buying low on Allen .
I'll have a full breakdown of the injury report in Friday's newsletter along with my previews of each game, but here's a look at the first practice participation reports of the week.
It's not clear what these injuries mean quite yet.
This doesn't mean they will play, but we got good news about them Wednesday.
This doesn't mean they won't play, but they aren't moving in the right direction yet. © 2004-2022 CBS Interactive.
All Rights Reserved.
CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc.
Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc.