Week 11 featured a terrific slate of games, but it feels like Week 12’s games are already upon us with a Thanksgiving Day triple-header right around the corner. That means fantasy football GMs will need to stay on top of fantasy injury reports and updates for Week 12, being extra diligent in order to optimize their waiver wire claims. This week, the waiver wire will be especially important considering the impact the players that were injured have on their respective teams. As the quarterback, Joe Burrow affects the fantasy output of every player on the Bengals offense. Meanwhile, JuJu Smith-Schuster’s injury will certainly shift the Steelers’ offensive gameplan while opening up opportunities for Chase Claypool, Diontae Johnson, and James Washington.
The fantasy Week 12 injury report will leave fantasy GMs scratching their heads when trying to set their lineups this weekend. Will they play, or do we have to scramble to try and find a few last-minute replacements?
NFL Fantasy Injury Report and Updates Week 12: Is Teddy Bridgewater playing in Week 12?
Teddy Bridgewater nearly ended up playing in Week 11, and while that ended up not being the case, it would be surprising at this point if he didn’t return to the starting lineup for their road matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.
Adam Schefter of ESPN initially reported that Teddy Bridgewater would be active. That news came as a surprise but was undone just 10 minutes later when Schefter reported that Bridgewater would be inactive and P.J. Walker would start for the Panthers. He explained the miscommunication in a later tweet, saying that after initially deciding to activate Bridgewater, the Panthers changed course and opted to play it safe.
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Panthers head coach Matt Rhule further explained what happened at his post-game press conference.
“He looked really good, everyone agreed he could play, but in my gut, I didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do,” Rhule said. “I made that decision. Teddy wanted to play, like the true competitor he is. But like the true team player he is, he respected my decision.”
In the end, the decision was a terrific one by Rhule. He kept his quarterback safe and gave him an extra week of rest when he wasn’t at 100 percent, and he was rewarded as Walker led his team to an easy 20-0 victory.
With that said, considering how close Bridgewater was to playing today, it would be very surprising if he wasn’t ready to go next week against the Vikings, even though he will be on the fantasy injury report for Week 12.
Week 12 Updates: Is Joe Burrow playing again this season?
Early in the third quarter of the Cincinnati Bengals’ 20-9 loss at the hands of the Washington Football Team, Joe Burrow was hit low during a throw and injured his left knee on the play as a result. The injury looked scary, which led to both teams coming out and surrounding Burrow and the trainers, as the cart had to be called out to take Burrow back to the locker room.
Backup quarterback Ryan Finley came in to finish the game for Burrow and struggled to move the offense, completing just 30 percent of his passes for three yards per attempt.
The early feeling around Joe Burrow would be on the injury report for Week 12 as well as the rest of the season, which was fueled in part by a tweet the rookie quarterback sent out.
“Thanks for all the love,” he tweeted. “Can’t get rid of me that easy. See ya next year.”
Early suspicions were later confirmed by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Twitter just a few hours later.
“Bengals QB Joe Burrow suffered a torn ACL based on the initial diagnosis,” Rapoport wrote. “There may be additional damage. Burrow signaled it with his tweet, but the MRI confirming the injury would end his stellar rookie season.”
It’s hard to imagine the Bengals’ offense staying above water now that Joe Mixon is on injured reserve and Joe Burrow is done for what’s left of the year.