The 2010 NFL season kicks off Thursday at 8:30 pm with a humdinger of a rematch between the Super Bowl Champions New Orleans Saints, and the 2009 NFC North Champions, Minnesota Vikings.
The start of the regular season also means the beginning of the 2010 fantasy football season, and what better way to kick things off, than to take a quick look at some notable injuries that you may not be up to speed on.
At the end, we will provide a quick little recap of those players who are still out for the time being, facing the PUP list, or done for the season altogether.
Currently On The Mend:
RB Michael Bush – OAK, is more than likely to miss the season opener at Tennessee, and could potentially miss up to a quarter of the season with a fractured thumb, reports The Oakland Tribune.
Bush is suffering from what is called “Bennett’s fracture” which is a fracture of the base of the first metacarpal bone which extends into the carpmetacarpal or (CMC) joint. It is basically a very common dislocation, but one that will require a surgical procedure.
The obvious mention is that the workload will significantly increase for Darren McFadden who hasn’t quite been the model of health himself in recent weeks, although he is currently fine as can be.
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RB Montario Hardesty – CLE, will miss the entire 2010 season with a torn left ACL reports Adam Schefter on Twitter.
The Browns were hoping to get Hardesty into the mix heavily and early, but that isn’t going to happen now. Jerome Harrison will take over the starting duties in Cleveland, and could have some intriguing value going forward.
Harrison has ran for 47 yards on 16 carries this preseason adding in 29 yards on four catches, but he was able to muster up 862 yards with 5 TDs on 194 carries in 2009.
Keep something in mind. Harrison did play in 13 games last year, but was really only featured 4 times, and in those four games, he averaged 30 carries for 171 yards scoring in three of the four games.
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RB Steve Slaton – HOU, is slated to miss the first week of the season with turf toe confirms HoustonTexans.com but Slaton isn’t the only RB issue for Houston as Jeremiah Johnson is also out with a dislocated right toe
That leaves RB Chris Henry, and this season’s brightest sleeper Arian Foster.
Henry will begin the season as the primary backup, but once Slaton returns to full health Henry will be relegated to third on the depth chart.
To be honest, outside of Foster about to have a breakout season, the rest of the RB situation is just as screwy as Troy Polamalu insuring his hair for a million dollars in a curious publicity stunt (thank you Lloyds of London and Head and Shoulders).
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TE Jeremy Shockey – NO, suffered a concussion in the Saints third preseason game, but coach Sean Peyton has clarified it as more of a “ding” on the noggin reports Mike Triplett of the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Shockey will be ready to go Thursday night against the Vikings, but it is a situation to closely monitor for Week One and Two as the Saints face two very hard hitting teams in the Vikings and Dolphins.
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RB Fred Jackson – BUF, will be limited in the early goings of the season admits head coach Chan Gailey, as reported by buffalobills.com.
Gailey is taking a conservative approach with Jackson’s fractured hand recovery since he has rookie C.J. Spiller chomping at the bit, and fellow RB Marshawn Lynch back from injury.
But the real issue is the apparent drop in Jackson’s ADP and rise in Spillers, which indicates people are nervously switching out the two backs in their drafts which may not be the wisest of decisions.
Jackson will score a lot of touchdowns, and provide some decent PPR value, so don’t be one of the panicked ones and start getting all goofy with your draft. It could come back to bite you in the end…remember ADP is a forecast, it isn’t anything written in stone.
Other Notable Infirmary Residents:
Leigh Bodden – CB – NE: Out for the year with torn rotator cuff.
Calvin Pace – LB – NYJ: Out for the season speculates coach Ryan, but could return in 4 to 6 weeks with broken foot.
Elvis Dumervil – LB – DEN: Out until perhaps December with torn pectorals.
Antoine Harris – S – PHI: Out for the season with a Lisfranc sprain.
LenDale White – RB – DEN; Out for season with ruptured Achilles tendon.
Donnie Avery – WR – STL: Out for the season with knee surgery.
Al Harris – DB – GB: Will begin the season on the PUP list, and is in jeopardy of never playing again with the amount of injury he sustained in his knee.
Darren Sharper – S – NO: There is a growing possibility of Shaper beginning the season on the PUP list, but Peyton will take as much times as he can to evaluate the situation. Because of this, keep an eye on DB/S Michael Jenkins.
Sidney Rice – WR – MIN: Out until Week 7
Chaz Schilens – WR – OAK: Out 3 to 6 weeks speculates coach Tom Cable (knee).
