Heading into kickoff time, a few top-tier fantasy players remain to be game-time decisions. They include: Antonio Gates, John Brown, and Eric Decker. The following is a Sunday morning accelerated update on all of the top fantasy-relevant injury news.
As a reminder, there are five status designations players can have: active, probable, questionable, doubtful and out. The active and out designations are self-explanatory. The probable designation signifies a player has a greater than 50 percent chance of being active for the game. Questionable means the player essentially has a 50-50 chance of playing. Doubtful means the player has less than a 25 percent chance of playing.
Quarterbacks
Ben Roethlisberger suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain and a bone bruise in Week 3. His expected timetable for return has been 4-6 weeks. He practiced fully this week, and is listed as probable for Sunday’s game.
Roethlisberger’s ability to stand in the pocket and throw is likely back to his pre-injury level. His overall mobility, on the other hand, is still somewhat impaired. I estimate his lateral mobility is about 75% of his pre-injury level. Luckily for him, the Bengals pass rush (13.7) should be well contained by the Steelers pass blocking (10.5) for most of the game.
Roethlisberger will wear a hinged knee brace during Sunday’s game. It will slow him down a little bit, but will help stabilize the knee and protect the injured MCL. Even though his mobility will not be fully back, I expect him to do quite well. He’s back to being a QB1. The entire Steelers offense will be boosted by his return, especially Antonio Brown.
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Dave Pratt, DPT, is a licensed physical therapist and a former collegiate football player. He has years of experience analyzing game footage and injuries. Throughout the NFL season, he will breakdown and discuss all fantasy-significant injuries in this weekly column. The first edition of the column will be made available on Monday afternoons, and updates will be made throughout the week. An accelerated update on all of the pressing injury news will be made available on Sunday mornings. Follow him on Twitter @PFF_DavePratt