AJ MassESPN Staff Writer5 Minute Read
Is Aaron Jones ready to return from injury this week?
Stephania Bell discusses Aaron Jones’ road to recovery from a hamstring injury and how he could potentially return in Week 7.
Whom should you start? Whom should you sit? To help you set your fantasy football lineups and avoid starting an offensive player who won’t be in the lineup, we’ll post fantasy-relevant updates and analysis here as NFL teams release their official inactives lists. Any rankings cited in this column come from our ESPN Fantasy staff ranks.
Official Sunday inactives should begin coming in approximately 90 minutes prior to the scheduled kickoff times: around 11:30 a.m. ET for the early games and 2:30 p.m. ET for the late-afternoon games.
Refresh often for the latest information.
1 p.m. ET games
Damien Harris, RB, BUF — OUT/IR
Impact: James Cook and Latavius Murray will split carries in the Buffalo backfield.
Quintin Morris, TE, BUF — OUT
Impact: Dalton Kincaid returns from his concussion and will split targets with Dawson Knox.
Roschon Johnson, RB, CHI — OUT
Impact: He’s still dealing with post-concussion issues, so some form of timeshare between D’Onta Foreman, Travis Homer and Darrynton Evans will likely be in effect.
Justin Fields, QB, CHI — OUT
Impact: Rookie Tyson Bagent out of Division II will get the call in his place.
Deshaun Watson, QB, CLE — Questionable
Impact: Although he hasn’t played since Week 3, signs are positive for Watson to return for this one.
Kareem Hunt, RB, CLE — Questionable
Impact: This will likely be decided after pregame warmups. Deon Jackson was promoted to the active roster, so we may see a healthy dose of Jerome Ford (and no Hunt) on Sunday.
Marvin Jones Jr., WR, DET — OUT
Impact: Jones did not travel with the team for personal reasons. Expect an uptick in targets for Jameson Williams.
David Montgomery, RB, DET — OUT
Impact: Jahmyr Gibbs should handle the majority of backfield touches, especially with Craig Reynolds being listed as questionable due to a rib injury (although Reynolds is expected to be active).
Alec Pierce, WR, IND — Questionable
Impact: He practiced in full late in the week, so signs are good that he can play. Still, Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs are the better fantasy options here.
Kylen Granson, TE, IND — OUT
Impact: Mo Alie-Cox and Drew Ogletree are likely to rotate in and out of the lineup.
Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, LV — OUT
Impact: Brian Hoyer will start in his place and gets to throw to Davante Adams, who was removed from the injury report on Friday.
Kayshon Boutte, WR, NE — Questionable
Impact: Demario Douglas and JuJu Smith-Schuster are also listed as questionable. One of this trio is likely going to get a chance to suit up, but none of them make for decent fantasy options right now.
Hunter Henry, TE, NE — Questionable
Impact: Even if he plays, he’s probably not worth starting this week — and the same holds true for Mike Gesicki, who would see a lot more of the field if Henry sits.
Daniel Jones, QB, NYG — Questionable
Impact: Odds are good that Tyrod Taylor will get another start for the Giants, who have shown very little on offense all season long.
4 p.m. ET games
Zach Pascal, WR, ARI — Questionable
Impact: Michael Wilson has pretty much passed him in the WR pecking order, making Pascal’s status relatively moot.
Kyler Murray, QB, ARI — OUT
Impact: His practice window to return from IR has begun and a Week 8 start is possible. For now, though, Joshua Dobbs remains under center.
Greg Dulcich, TE, DEN — OUT/IR
Impact: Dulcich reinjured himself last week and boomerangs back to IR. Adam Trautman will start but is a fantasy non-factor.
Aaron Jones, RB, GB — Questionable
Impact: His hamstring woes continue to linger, keeping this as a likely game-time call. Be prepared to pivot to AJ Dillon, but at least for now, Jones is expected to give it a go.
Justin Watson, WR, KC — OUT
Impact: He won’t be placed on IR, but is still expected to sit until at least Week 10. Kadarius Toney and Rashee Rice benefit in the short term, but Mecole Hardman Jr. was just reacquired by the Chiefs and may have something to say about that.
Jalen Guyton, WR, LAC — OUT
Impact: Although his three-week window to return from IR has started, he’s not ready to play yet. Next week may be a different story.
Kyren Williams, RB, LAR — OUT/IR
Impact: Darrell Henderson Jr. was promoted from the practice squad to further muddy a replacement committee that already included rookie Zach Evans, Royce Freeman and Myles Gaskin. Adam Schefter is reporting that Freeman and Henderson will do most of today’s heavy lifting.
Diontae Johnson, WR, PIT — Activated from IR
Impact: His return comes at a good time for the Steelers, who placed TE Pat Freiermuth on IR due to a lingering hamstring injury.
DK Metcalf, WR, SEA — Questionable
Impact: After a limited practice on Friday, he is likely to be a game-time call. If you have a healthy option playing in the early window, you may not want to wait for Metcalf.
Zach Charbonnet, RB, SEA — Questionable
Impact: It’s looking like a sit here. Kenneth Walker III may see even more carries than usual. DeeJay Dallas is expected to step into the backup RB role this week.
Sunday night game
Jeff Wilson Jr., RB, MIA — Activated from IR
Impact: Eventually, he’ll share the backfield with Raheem Mostert, but exactly how soon he overtakes Salvon Ahmed for that privilege is unknown.
Julio Jones, WR, PHI — Elevated from practice squad
Impact: He only just signed with the team, so expecting more than a limited package of snaps this week is perhaps being too optimistic.
