Welcome to the fantasy football IR injury report. Injuries are all too common in professional football. Sometimes, they are long-lasting, requiring NFL teams to place players on injured reserve. In this column, we will provide weekly updates on every relevant fantasy football player on injured reserve.
To stay up to date on the latest injury news, check out PFN’s injury tracker.
Which Players Are on IR in Week 2?
Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers
On Friday afternoon, Christian McCaffrey was officially ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Vikings due to calf and Achilles injuries. This will be the second straight game McCaffrey has sat out, as he also missed the 49ers’ season-opening win over the New York Jets on Monday night.
Not long after the announcement that McCaffrey would miss Sunday, the 49ers officially put the star RB on the injured reserve. An injury that could cost McCaffrey most, if not all, of this season, would be a major setback for the 49ers in their quest to return to the Super Bowl.
The #49ers are placing star RB Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve. He will miss at least the next four games. pic.twitter.com/XoUawYVxKH
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) September 14, 2024
McCaffrey is the league’s premier running back and the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He ran for a career-high and league-best 1,459 yards last season and had an NFL-high 21 total touchdowns.
While Week 1 turned out to be the first game McCaffrey missed with the 49ers due to injury, this will be the third straight regular-season game McCaffrey will miss for San Francisco. McCaffrey sat out the 49ers’ final regular-season game of the 2023 season to rest up for the playoffs.
Jonathon Brooks, RB, Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers’ rookie running back is coming off a November ACL tear. Jonathon Brooks has been working hard to get back on the field. He will play this season, but the earliest that can happen is Week 5.
Chuba Hubbard served as the Panthers’ RB1 in Week 1, but only just barely. He did not see anywhere near the same heavy usage he saw over the second half of last season.
More concerning is the fact that Bryce Young and the Panthers did not look any better offensively than they did last year.
Given the performance of this offense, we can expect Brooks to quickly earn the lead-back role upon his return. However, his fantasy upside will be capped if the Panthers can’t figure things out offensively as a team.
Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns
Nick Chubb continues to make good progress recovering from tearing multiple knee ligaments in Week 2 of last year. To the surprise of no one, the Cleveland Browns placed him on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list forcing him to miss at least the first month of the season (likely more).
Jerome Ford served as the Browns’ lead back last season and opened 2024 in that same role, playing 75% of the offensive snaps. He will continue to be a weekly RB2 until Chubb returns, and possibly even after.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Clyde Edwards-Helaire is not dealing with any sort of physical ailment. He’s experiencing PTSD and has been courageous in how open he’s been about his struggles. As a result, the Chiefs placed him on the reserve/non-football illness as he works through the issue.
First and foremost, mental health is no joke. Good on CEH for recognizing that he is dealing with something that cannot be fully addressed while he’s also playing professional football. Hopefully, he’s able to work through his issues and get back on the field.
From a fantasy perspective, Edwards-Helaire had seemingly already lost the RB2 job before this. With Kansas City having added Samaje Perine, combined with the quality training camp of Carson Steele, CEH is unlikely to even return to a handcuff role. He doesn’t need to be rostered in fantasy leagues, even in the IR spot.
Keaton Mitchell, RB, Baltimore Ravens
It’s been a rough start to Keaton Mitchell’s career. Mitchell missed the first five weeks of his rookie season due to injury; then, after playing in two games, he got hurt again.
Mitchell appeared in the Baltimore Ravens’ next six games and thoroughly impressed before tearing his ACL. He is currently on the PUP list and can’t play until at least Week 5 but is almost certainly going to be out longer than that. Justice Hill should continue operating as the change-of-pace back behind Derrick Henry until Mitchell can return.
Kendre Miller, RB, New Orleans Saints
I know this column is supposed to focus on players who are potentially fantasy-relevant, but let’s make an exception for a sophomore RB playing behind two 29-year-olds with rapidly declining efficiency.
The oft-injured Kendre Miller is dealing with a hamstring strain and will open the season on short-term IR, guaranteeing he doesn’t return until at least Week 5.
If you want to throw Miller on your IR spot, that’s perfectly fine. However, don’t hesitate to drop him the moment you need it for someone else who gets hurt during the season.
Puka Nacua, WR, Los Angeles Rams
Evidently, we all should have been more concerned about Puka Nacua’s knee injury. Despite practicing in full leading up to the Rams’ Week 1 contest, Nacua was clearly not over the injury.
A rather innocuous sliding catch resulted in him aggravating the same knee. He missed a few plays before attempting to return, but was quickly pulled from the game and ruled out.
Nacua is also being described as week-to-week. For everyone’s sake, hopefully, Nacua sits for as long as he needs to completely get over the issue. If it was that easy to aggravate it once, it’s bound to happen again if he returns too soon.
On Monday, head coach Sean McVay finally revealed what some Twitter doctors suspected all along — that Nacua sprained his PCL, and will go on IR. This is probably the best-case scenario for fantasy managers, as it would allow us to avoid the weekly game of IR-ing him on Friday, having to pull him off IR on Tuesday, and then waiting until Friday to be able to put him back.
In the meantime, Demarcus Robinson is on the weekly streaming radar and Tyler Johnson is a somewhat intriguing deep league option, while Cooper Kupp looks like the guy from 2021 who had the greatest WR season of all time.
Tyler Higbee, TE, Los Angeles Rams
Tyler Higbee remains on the PUP list as he works his way back from a torn ACL and MCL. Given that the injury was sustained so late last season, it’s unclear when he will be able to return.
In the interim, Colby Parkinson is the clear TE1 for this team. He played 88% of the snaps in Week 1 and didn’t look much different than Higbee.
The Los Angeles Rams’ TE1 has always been on the fantasy radar during the Sean McVay era. If Parkinson continues to perform well, there’s no guarantee Higbee returns as a starter.
T.J. Hockenson, TE, Minnesota Vikings
It remains the status quo on Minnesota Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson, who tore his ACL and MCL last season.
Given the nature of his position, it’s easier for Hockenson to return than a guy like Chubb. However, Hockenson’s injury occurred in Week 17. An injury that late in the season makes it highly unlikely that he’ll be anywhere close to fully recovered anytime soon.
Hockenson opened training camp on the PUP list and remains there to start the year. He will miss Minnesota’s first four games. He will probably return at some point, but fantasy managers absolutely should not burn a roster spot on him, and he is only worth stashing in the IR spot.