The Los Angeles Chargers head to Foxborough to face the New England Patriots with a playoff spot on the line. However, the Chargers do not head on the road with a completely clean bill of health.
With four key offensive players listed on the injury report entering the game in New England, the Chargers, fantasy football managers have plenty to ponder.
Let’s take a look at the injuries the Chargers are dealing with heading into kickoff.
J.K. Dobbins, RB
The Chargers activated Dobbins (knee) from injured reserve on Friday ahead of their game against the Patriots on Saturday.
While he is still listed as questionable, the team presumably would not have activated Dobbins from the injured reserve unless they intended for him to play in Saturday’s game. We may even see him handle a significant workload immediately, as Gus Edwards has been ruled out for the Week 17 matchup with an ankle injury.
This always looked to be on the card after the Chargers listed Dobbins as a full practice participant on Thursday, following limited listings on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Gus Edwards, RB
An injury to Gus Edwards came somewhat out of the blue this week as the running back entered the week with no major concerns. However, he appears to have picked up an ankle injury in practice on Tuesday. That saw him limited on Tuesday and then downgraded to a non-participant on Wednesday before being ruled out on Thursday.
Edwards’ absence initially left Kimani Vidal and Hassan Haskins as the lone healthy options at running back on the active roster, though J.K. Dobbins (knee) — who is listed as questionable — was activated from injured reserve ahead of Saturday’s game. Therefore, we would expect Dobbins to handle the majority of touches for this backfield against the Patriots.
Will Dissly, TE
Despite practicing in full on Thursday, Will Dissly has been listed as questionable for Week 17 with a shoulder injury.
Dissly has missed the Chargers’ last two contests, but he looks like he’ll have a chance to play Saturday after he was able to resume practicing, first in a limited fashion but then in full by the end of the week. It looks good for Dissly in Week 17, but the Chargers may choose to be careful with their No. 1 tight end with a playoff spot there for the taking over the next two weeks.
If Dissly does play, fantasy managers should also be cautious of re-injury. It would be very frustrating to start Dissly only to see him re-injure the should early in the contest. If you have other options, it might be worth exploring using them.
Hayden Hurst, TE
The Chargers have listed Hurst as questionable for Saturday’s game against the Patriots. He is dealing with an illness that could keep him out.
Hurst had missed five straight games with a hip injury before coming off injured reserve last week but played just eight snaps in this Week 16 Thursday Night Football win over the Broncos. With an illness limiting his activity in practice this week, Hurst may not be in store for a dramatic increase in playing time Saturday if he’s cleared to play.
Stone Smartt and Tucker Fisk could be in store for elevated snaps at tight end if neither Dissly nor Hurst is able to play.
