It’s always a challenge to navigate through injuries in fantasy football. Ahead of Week 1, players are the healthiest they are going to be. However, there are still several guys dealing with ailments.
As we begin to set lineups for the first time, what are the latest injury updates on Hollywood Brown, Josh Downs, and Kyle Pitts?
Latest News and Injury Updates Impacting Fantasy
Hollywood Brown, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
It feels like a lifetime ago, but Brown got hurt in the Kansas City Chiefs’ first preseason game, suffering an SC joint injury similar to the one Tyreek Hill sustained in 2019. That injury cost Hill four games.
After being evaluated, Brown avoided surgery and was given a 4-6 week timeline. We are coming up on four weeks and by all accounts, Brown is progressing well. With that said, he won’t play Thursday when the Chiefs open their season at home against the Baltimore Ravens. Brown was ruled out several days ago by head coach Andy Reid.
The good news is Brown is expected to return no later than Week 3, with Week 2 still very much in play. For this week, however, fantasy managers will have to go forward without him.
Brown’s absence elevates rookie Xavier Worthy into the WR2 role opposite Rashee Rice. Worthy faces a tough opponent in the Ravens’ defense but is very much in play as a WR3 in fantasy lineups.
This analysis was last updated at 2 p.m. on Sept. 4.
Josh Downs, WR, Indianapolis Colts
Early in training camp, Downs went down with a high ankle sprain and hasn’t practiced in several weeks now.
It was always going to be a stretch for Downs to be ready for Week 1. While the injury shouldn’t sideline him much longer, his absence from Wednesday’s practice is an ominous sign for his Week 1 availability.
On Thursday morning, Downs provided a new update to reporters, telling them that he ran routes at Wednesday’s practice.
Downs said he isn’t ruling himself out yet for Sunday and that he is “real close” to returning.
Once the season gets going, Wednesday absences will be more common. However, ahead of Week 1, anyone not practicing Wednesday is almost certainly not going to play. I would place Downs’ odds of playing this week as close to 0% as I can get without saying it since, technically, we don’t know.
With him out, rookie Adonai Mitchell will get a chance to prove himself early on. Mitchell was likely set to open the season in a much smaller role but could very well be the primary WR2 opposite Michael Pittman Jr. He’s not a consideration for fantasy lineups this week but is a name to monitor in case he pops.
This analysis was last updated at 1 p.m. on Sept. 5.
Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons
With all of the Falcons’ upgrades offensively, we saw ADP spikes for Bijan Robinson and Drake London. But one player who did not experience the same bump was Pitts, which we can attribute to two things: talent concerns and injury concerns.
Reportedly, Pitts wasn’t healthy for the entirety of the 2023 season. The prevailing belief heading into this year was that he finally was, but on Wednesday, we learned that’s not the case.
The good news is Pitts did practice, albeit in a limited capacity. Ideally, everyone is practicing in full ahead of Week 1. However, Pitts practicing at all suggests this may just be Atlanta exercising extra caution ahead of the first game of the season.
Pitts has been practicing all summer. Missing a few reps just a couple of days before the first game is not that big of a deal.
Morris says Kyle Pitts tweaked his hamstring a couple weeks ago and it "hadn’t affected him too much." He practiced Monday and will again today, just in a limited capacity. #Falcons
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) September 4, 2024
Fantasy managers should expect Pitts to be active on Sunday and should have no reservations about starting him.
This analysis was last updated at 2 p.m. on Sept. 4.