In the Tennessee Titans’ Week 6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, running back Tyjae Spears left the game with an injury in the first half and did not return.
Here is the latest on Spears’ injury, his status for Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, and his fantasy football impact for Week 7.
What Happened to Tyjae Spears?
Spears appeared to suffer his hamstring injury late in the first half of last Sunday’s loss to the Colts. He had his final rush attempt on the final play of the first half and did not return to the game.
Spears, who has struggled most of the season in his backup role to starting running back Tony Pollard, was having a good first half last week, rushing for 27 yards on six carries, a 4.5 yards per carry average that was his second-highest in a game this season (season-high average is 5.3 yards in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears).
Spears was almost immediately ruled out for the Week 7 tilt versus the Bills. Although he wasn’t officially ruled out until later in the week, Titans head coach Brian Callahan said last Monday that Spears was “week-to-week” with his hamstring injury.
#Titans coach Brian Callahan tells reporters that RB Tyjae Spears is considered week-to-week with a hamstring injury, likely meaning he’ll miss time.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 14, 2024
Spears has not excelled in his reserve role so far this season, averaging well under four yards a carry (3.5) and less than 25 rushing yards a game. He hasn’t been used much as a ball carrier, however, with only 33 rush attempts in five games this season.
Spears has caught every target this season, but that only amounts to 12, which ranks sixth-highest on the Titans.
Adding to his list of unproductive statistics is that Spears has just one touchdown this season. However, that did come in Week 4 against the Miami Dolphins, so there was reason to suspect that Spears may have been turning his fortunes around.
Although he is second on the team (behind Pollard) in touches with 45, his yards per touch of 4.2 ranks last among players with at least five touches this season.
Fantasy Impact of Spears’ Injury
Spears had not provided much of an impact for fantasy managers this season. After averaging 9.0 fantasy points per game as a rookie in 2023, Spears’ fantasy PPG average has been even lower this season (7.4).
Among running backs this season, Spears ranks 49th in total fantasy points (37.0) and 48th in fantasy points per game.
However, before his injury, Spears’ fantasy value had been trending up. He had 10.1 fantasy points in Week 3 and a season-high 11.9 fantasy points in Week 4.
Tyjae Spears scores on the direct snap!
📺: #TENvsMIA on ESPN
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/zi5S8nlTbd— NFL (@NFL) October 1, 2024