Linebacker Injury Report Week 14

Below are some injuries worth monitoring as we start Week 14. Please consider these players’ injuries when setting your lineups.

Carolina Panthers

At this point in the season, injuries accumulate, and a player missing practice isn’t always a major concern, as rest often becomes a priority. Typically, as long as they practice by Friday, they’re expected to play. However, the context surrounding Josey Jewell is more concerning. He was downgraded after starting the week with limited participation on Thursday but then missing practice entirely. Fantasy managers should monitor his status and look to pivot now in case he’s unable to play this week.

Cincinnati Bengals

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As reported Thursday morning, by Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson is out for the season due to a knee injury. Logan underwent a “surgical cleanup” on his knee so will miss the remainder of our fantasy season.

Your top pickup on the week now becomes Akeem Davis -Gaither. Davis-Gaither was promoted to team Captain this off-season and has already been a Dynasty stash but up until week 13 was the primary backup whenever Logan Wilson or Germaine Pratt were sidelined. With Wilson out this past weekend, Davis-Gaither produced a 13 tackles game. I’ll play the hot hand here and flex him wherever I can get him.

Green Bay Packers

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Rookie Edgerrin Cooper won’t play TNF due to an injury to his hamstrings sustained in practice. Quay Walker retains his every-down role weekly, but this is good news for Isaiah McDuffie managers. Eric Wilson will also factor in as the team’s LB3.

Los Angeles Chargers

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As you can see from the chart, the linebacker corps here is in injured ruins. Let’s take a look at last week to get an answer out of this.

With Denzel Perryman and Junior Colson sidelined due to injuries, Troy Dye received 76% snap share and put on a show with 14 tackles! Adding Henley to this now seems like he’ll get a chance to see if he could maintain this production. However, history is not on Dye’s side as historically, he hasn’t been a player you could rely on like this. It’s possible he could be a flex for your team this week if the players above are out. In my opinion, Dye will remain a risky option, generally only receiving 30% or less production so you could look to other places.

New York Giants

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The team’s every-down linebacker, Bobby Okereke did not practice Wednesday or Thursday and is considered week-to-week. He has a back injury, so it is starting to trend not likely. IDP Managers should pivot and start to look other places as a safety precaution.

Micah McFadden is a strong candidate to step into a larger leadership role, having started every game this season at inside linebacker alongside Okereke, and has experience wearing the green-dot role before. If Okereke is unavailable on Sunday, consider McFadden a worthy addition to your roster.

San Francisco 49ers

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As the season progressed, the clear takeaway for any 49ers fan is that the team desperately missed Greenlaw and Hufunga. Not seen on the injury report but needs to be mentioned here is an under-reported injury sustained to Fred Warner. Warner has been playing hurt and dealing with a fractured bone all season and didn’t look like it bothered him until Week 9, so this could explain his flunky stats. Being it’s a long season, and where their record stands, the team is going to need all hands on deck and players to power through.

Dre Greenlaw has been limited, but practicing, and in this case, this is good news. The 49ers have yet to determine when Dre Greenlaw will make his season debut. Coach Kyle Shanahan commented, “We’ll see how this week goes, but most likely Rams, hopefully.” If this quote holds true, that would be in Week 15 as the 5-7 49ers would play the 6-6 Rams (Rams are just one game back for division lead) so stay tuned as this will be news very soon.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Bucs at practice this morning — no Tristan Wirfs, who’s dealing with a knee and foot injury. Tykee Smith continues to work his way back, JTS working today as well. No K.J. Britt, no Mike Edwards. Not expecting them back this week. pic.twitter.com/PhqW3QM7bh
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) December 5, 2024

K.J. Britt went down with an ankle injury in the second quarter of last week’s game and did not return. Owners may want to pay attention to this as not only did Britt not practice, but it’s rumored he may be done for the season. J.J. Russell stepped in as his replacement and received 61% and 5 tackles the rest of the way. Those numbers appear to be a two-down linebacker role so expect 80% of the snaps in Week 14 if Britt remains sidelined.

Looking at the case for Russell a little deeper, his PFF stats this week indicate the argument for just two-down work at linebacker as well, as he had a decent enough pass rush grade (68), but is suspect in coverage just like Britt was before him (46.2) something to monitor, but as of right now he’s the next man up.

Tennessee Titans

#Titans more confident in Luke Gifford at ILB with the green dot than any of the young guys. pic.twitter.com/3rxC3C6ASr
— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) December 4, 2024

This one is interesting. As both, Jerome Baker and Kenneth Murray are down with injuries, the next man up has had everyone guessing all season. No, it is not Otis Reese. No, it is not Cedric Gray. It is none other than practice squad player Luke Gifford who the coach just announced will be wearing the green dot this week. Go figure.

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