December 21st Injury Report

Quarterbacks
- Josh McCown will replace Caleb Hanie as the starting quarterback of the Bears on Saturday. McCown will be the 10th quarterback to start under Lovie Smith in Chicago.
- The Steelers plan to rest quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (ankle) this week, despite Ben saying that he still hopes to play this week. Roethlisberger did not practice on Wednesday.
- Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb (concussion) split reps with John Skelton in practice on Wednesday. Skelton got a few more, according to Kolb, but there is no decision on the starting quarterback for week 16 yet.


Running Backs
- Cowboys running back Felix Jones (hamstring) did not practice today, as the team is being cautious with him because he is "all they have" at the running back position with DeMarco Murray (ankle) and Phillip Tanner (hamstring) on injured reserve.
- Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw (foot) was limited in practice on Wednesday, as he was on Tuesday.
- Redskins running back Roy Helu (toe, knee) was limited in practice on Wednesday, but I expect him to be a full go on Saturday.
- Titans head coach Mike Munchak said that Chris Johnson (ankle) was limited in ankle and the team was encouraged according to Jim Wyatt.
- Colts running back Delone Carter (forearm) was a full participant at practice for the second consecutive day and should play this week.
- Patriots running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis did not practice Wednesday because of an illness. Shane Vereen (hamstring) was limited in practice.


Wide Receivers
- The Rams rookie wide receiver Austin Pettis was suspended for four games by the league for violating NFL rules on performance enhancing substances. He will miss the final two games of this year, and the fisrt two games of next season, per Jim Thomas.
- Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson (groin) did not practice on Wednesday. It is likely to be rest, rather than a serious injury.
- Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin (undisclosed injury) did not practice on Wednesday during the media portion of practice. It is not expected to be serious, as he did a light workout on the side.
- Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall got a rest today at practice. He has a very minor knee injury, but earlier in the week the Dolphins said that they would rest players during the week.
- Bengals rookie wide receiver AJ Green (shoulder) was limited in practice, and will likely be limited all week long. He should be good to go for this week's game.


Tight Ends
- Giants tight end Jake Ballard (knee) did not practice on Wednesday and is not expected to play this week.
- Colts tight end Dallas Clark (neck) did not practice on Wednesday and is expected to miss his second consecutive game.
- Bills tight end Scott Chandler (ankle) was a limited participant in practice on Wednesday and could return this week after missing the last two games.
- Dolphins tight end Anthony Fasano (head) did not practice on Wednesday.


Defense/Others
- Browns corner back Joe Haden (thigh bruise) and safety TJ Ward (foot) did not practice on Wednesday.
- Patriots safety Patrick Chung had no limp when going onto the field, according to Ian Rapoport. He should be a go for this weekend after sitting out last week's game.
- Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney did not practice for rest, and opposite of Freeney, defensive end Robert Mathis (knee) also did not practice.
- The Cardinals placed outside linebacker Joey Porter on IR today, and what could be a wrap on a very solid career. Cardinals promoted outside linebacker Brandon Williams from the practice squad to take his spot on the 53-man roster.
- Eagles corner back Asante Samuel did not practice today with a hamstring injury. He looks very iffy to play against the Cowboys on Sunday in a must win game.

Week 13 Pickups

By: Gabriel Harber

Howdy folks and welcome to the last week we’ll share together.  Sad, I know.  I’ll be traveling for most of December which means I’ll be unable to catch the weekend action in a timely fashion.  I’ll have to rough it like my grandpappy did before the interwebs and all that jazz.  Oh well, I’m sure I’ll be replaced by someone far more talented but much less good looking.  Happy trails and see you in the championship.

Pick Ups

Dan Orlovsky:  Out of nowhere came Orlovsky on Sunday, painting us a picture that made us completely forget Curtis.  Yes it was the Patriots, and yes the playoff schedule is brutal, but if you’ve had injury problems or are in a 2 QB league, any starting quarterback sitting on the wire this late in the season is a godsend.  There’s enough talent surrounding him that he should be able to piece together some reasonable stats in the upcoming weeks.

TJ Yates:  Anyone who watched Sunday’s contest knows that the end result for Yates was much more impressive than the final stats indicated.  The athletic talent from North Carolina was asked to manage the game and allow Arian Foster and the defense to win it.  He looked extremely poised and one can only imagine that as he becomes more acclimated to his role that Gary Kubiak will open up the offense for him a bit.  Keep an eye on Andre Johnson’s hamstring aggravation as it could go a long way towards determining Yates’ value.

Donald Brown:  As predicted, Brown has secured the leading backfield role in an offense that suddenly has a little life to it.  The more the Colts receivers continue to improve upon their hot streak, the more value Brown will hold during the stretch run.

Marion Barber:  In my opinion the must add of the week is Barber.  A reeling Bears team has revealed itself to be less than capable of chucking it through the air and suddenly finds itself without its best offensive weapon, and the facilitator of over 50 percent of its total offense, Matt Forte.  I would grab Barber and hope we see a renaissance over the last four games reminiscent of his time in Dallas that earned him the nickname “Barbarian.”

CJ Spiller/Toby Gerhart/Roy Helu:  These three should already be owned in every league, regardless of format.  I’m simply listing them as a reminder so that if one happened to slip through the cracks you can pounce.  I rate them Helu, Gerhart, and Spiller.  Spiller would be second but there are rumors coming out of Minnesota that the Vikings may shut down Adrian Peterson for the season in order to protect their investment.

Demaryius Thomas:  I had a strong feeling that Thomas would step into prominence this weekend, and stopped myself just short of adding him to last week’s pick ups article and my FanDuel article on another site.  I wish I had pulled the trigger as I would have looked like a genius, but now I just look like another idiot.  Regardless of how you view it, it breaks down like this; Thomas is the Broncos purest talent at wideout and is an impressive physical specimen.  Decker, while providing an excellent safety valve for an emerging Tim Tebow, will fall into a natural WR2 role in Denver as Thomas is simply too good to stay silent for much longer.

Reggie Wayne/Pierre Garcon/Jacob Tamme/Dallas Clark:  You may find that over the course of the season some very impatient owners dropped one of these guys (I dropped Garcon after week 10 myself.)  It really says something about how bad a quarterback is when he can take talent like this and render it waiver wire fodder, but that’s exactly what the Curtis Painter era accomplished in Indy.  Now that Dandy Dan Orlovsky is firing rockets (I kid) the Colts offense resembles a living entity once again.  There’s no guarantees here as the playoff schedule is as rough as anyone’s, but there is certainly some sky-high upside should you choose to take the risk.

Visante Shiancoe:  Shiancoe has been mostly quiet this year, but a few factors have me convinced that he’ll be relevant for the last few weeks of the season.  One, Adrian Peterson may be out for the remainder of the season which means a definite uptick in looks for the other offensive players, and two, his schedule.  Once you get past a Lions defense that hasn’t really been intimidating anyone lately, you have one of the softer set of matchups for any tight end in the league over the last four weeks.

Thanks for reading this year folks and have a great holiday!

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