Darrius Heyward-Bey Injury: Update on Oakland Raiders WR's Scary Injury

E.J. Henderson's knee inadvertently struck Raiders wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey in the head, knocking his helmet off and forcing Heyward-Bey to be removed from the field on a stretcher.

Heyward-Bey appeared to be in a tremendous amount of pain and there is a huge amount of concern from both sides.

Update: Sunday, November 20th at 5:14 p.m. EST

SFGate.com's Vittorio Tafur reports encouraging news from DHB. Heyward-Bey regaining his feeling and being optimistic about making the flight home is encouraging for all who saw the injury and feared the worst.

Fantasy Impact

Heyward-Bey isn't exactly a trustworthy fantasy option, but Carson Palmer's fantasy value decreases slightly with speedy Heyward-Bey off the field.

Though inconsistent, Heyward-Bey stretches the field and provides Palmer with a vertical threat defenses always have to account for.

Who's the Backup?

Palmer is utilizing a number of receivers in this game. Seven players have receptions and though Heyward-Bey's 43 yards a team high in this affair, they don't have a shortage of options at receiver.

Devastation Scale: 3/10

Heyward-Bey going down like he did is highly unfortunate. Nobody wants to see a player get hurt, especially not like he did.

This shouldn't affect the Raiders in this game though, as they protect a 13-point lead and face a Vikings squad that lost Adrian Peterson for the game to injury.

Timeline for Return

It's unclear thus far how long he's going to be out. We saw Nick Collins go down with a neck injury that was somewhat similar to this one and he was out for the year. Then again, there is a solid chance he's fine and sustained no major injuries.

Whatever the case, getting carted off on a stretcher makes it clear he won't be coming back into this game.

What They're Saying

CBS' Charlie Casserly points out the only conclusion we can draw at this point, saying Heyward-Bey was carted off on a stretcher.

ESPN's Tom Pelissero points out that Heyward-Bey's legs were moving after he sustained the injury, which is encouraging given the nature in which it occured.