It is quite a letdown if you are depending on a player to perform in the season to catapult you into the fantasy football playoffs and they don’t deliver. It is even worse when they get injured. What are the injury updates on Cooper Kupp, Amari Cooper, and Quentin Johnston?
WR Injury Updates
Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Rams star WR Kupp has become less than automatic after returning from injury. At first, it was battling back from his hamstring, but now he seems to have a nagging ankle injury that has been affecting his fantasy production. He was the WR87 in Week 11 and WR78 in Week 12, numbers we are not used to seeing from Kupp.
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It looked like Kupp may have aggravated the ankle early on in the game, and he did leave the field to have it taped, but he continued to play. The WR looked slightly off, so he might be battling more than we know. If Kupp has a setback, expect more targets to head to Puka Nacua and possibly Tyler Higbee, who had a huge outing on Sunday.
Amari Cooper, WR, Cleveland Browns
All of the Cleveland Browns’ offensive weapons have taken a hit since Deshaun Watson was ruled out for the season and Dorian Thompson-Robinson took over under center. Cooper has had a rough last two weeks, finishing as WR51 in Week 11 against Pittsburgh and WR88 in Week 12 against Denver.
However, it might not just be QB play that will affect Cooper moving forward. Cooper left Sunday’s game in the second half due to a rib injury. When he left the game, he had only caught two of his targets for 16 yards. He avoided broken ribs and head coach Kevin Stefanski said the X-rays were negative. Stefanski “thinks he will be OK.”
If Cooper is sidelined this week against the Rams, you could see extra targets heading toward TE David Njoku, especially if P.J. Walker ends up starting for a potentially injured DTR.
Quentin Johnston, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
The rookie receiver Johnston has not yet turned into the star the Los Angeles Chargers hoped for when they drafted him. He is currently the WR95 and his highest finish was in Week 10 when he was WR25. He has had plenty of opportunity too, with multiple weeks where one or more players were injured allowing him the chance to step up.
On Sunday, Johnston left the game in the third quarter with a rib injury after catching one pass for seven yards. Head coach Brandon Staley said that Johnston was medically cleared to re-enter the game, but they “didn’t feel like … it was the right thing to go back in the game.”
Even if Johnston is healthy, it is beginning to look like the Chargers will start to look elsewhere. Fantasy managers should do the same.
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