Fantasy Football 2012 Injury Report: What Does Every Owner Need to Know?

The 2012 NFL preseason is entering its second week with a pair of games on Thursday, and with each passing game and day of practice it seems that another fantasy-relevant player is going down with an injury.

Keeping up to date on the latest bumps and bruises is absolutely essential with draft season in fantasy football now in high gear, so here's the latest from training tables across the NFL.

Peyton Manning's Arm Strength a Concern?

One of the most ballyhooed events of the preseason's first week was the return to the playing field of quarterback Peyton Manning, who saw his first game action as a member of the Denver Broncos against the Chicago Bears.

Manning went 4-of-7 for 44 yards with an interception in limited action, and not only were reviews generally positive, but Broncos VP John Elway recently told USA Today that he thinks Manning is throwing the ball better than ever.

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"He's throwing the post route and everything well,'' Elway said. "I went back and looked at film from 2010 and 2009 to get a comparison of Peyton, and he looks to me to be the same guy throwing now that he was then."

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You certainly can't fault Elway's optimism, but his comments sort of contradict what Manning himself said about his arm strength just a day or so before to Jim Rome on Rome according to Pro Football Talk.

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“I still have strength to recover, still have work to do,” Manning said. “I am 36 years old. My arm has a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns on it, so it’s probably not going to be the same as it was when it was 22, but I still think it can complete some passes. I can move the chains and hopefully get our offense into the end zone this year.”

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Long story short? For all the pomp and circumstance we just don't really know what kind of shape Manning's gun is in, and may not know until the 36-year-old takes the field in a game that counts.

Rack It!

Ryan Mathews out Until October?

The biggest injury to strike fantasy football owners so far this preseason has undoubtedly been the broken clavicle suffered by San Diego Chargers running back Ryan Mathews.

The third-year pro, who had risen as highly as the top five in many fantasy drafts, broke the bone on his first carry of the preseason, and while Mathews has stated that he intends to be ready for opening night there's at least one medical professional who begs to differ.

Dr. Neil Ghodadra, who has served as the team physician for the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox, told Jason Smith of NFL.com that not only will Mathews be out longer than expected, but that if he rushes back odds are his return will be short-lived.

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"It takes six weeks for the bone to heal," Ghodadra said. "Even after you fix it with the clavicle plate and screws, the bone still has to heal, so you are looking at six weeks for that at minimum. Studies have shown 8.8 weeks is how long it takes for NFL players to get back from clavicle fractures."

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If you think that Mathews' falling draft stock represents a potential value play then you'd better have an early-season plan B set up.

Isaac Redman Hype Train Takes a Shot to the Groin

With starting running back Rashard Mendenhall all but certain to begin the year on the PUP list, it appeared that Isaac Redman would be carrying the load in the Pittsburgh Steelers backfield early in the season, and that made the third-year pro a trendy value pick as a fantasy RB3 this year.

However, the Redman bandwagon may have blown a tire.

The nagging groin injury (and hip pain it has brought with it) forced Redman from practice Wednesday, and with an MRI set for Thursday Redman's status for the rest of the preseason and even Week 1 has now become very murky very quickly.

For his part Redman hopes to be able to return to action soon, telling The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that "I heal pretty fast. Hopefully, I can get right past this."

We'll know more once the results of the MRI come back, but for now Redman's fantasy value has taken a hit while Jonathan Dwyer may begin crawling his way up draft boards.

Touch No. 28 and You're Cut

Not all the news surrounding running backs is doom and gloom, although it could apparently spell that for the unlucky soul that touches one in practice.

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has returned to the practice field, but the red non-contact jersey Peterson is wearing is just the beginning of the "hands-off" policy in effect where "All Day" is concerned in the Twin Cities.

In fact, if what safety Jamarca Sanford told Dan Wiederer of The Minneapolis Star-Tribune is to be believed then getting in Peterson's way is an easy way to end up delivering pizzas for a living.

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Jamarca Sanford on orders given to the D about Adrian Peterson: “The rules are simple. Do not touch 28. If you touch him, you’re cut.”

— Dan Wiederer (@StribDW) August 14, 2012

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All kidding aside, Sanford's statement only reinforces that it's still only been nine months since Peterson tore his knee up, and while all the news regarding his recovery to this point has been positive, the fact remains that there's a significant amount of risk involved with drafting him this year.

I'd still do it, but I like purple Kool-aid.

Jason Witten Hurt His WHAT?

OK, Here's one you don't hear every day.

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, who was widely considered a top-five fantasy option entering this season, will miss at least the rest of the exhibition season after lacerating his spleen in Monday's exhibition opener against the Oakland Raiders.

The injury's no joke either. As Todd Archer of ESPN reports, Witten will be on the shelf indefinitely in the hopes that rest will allow the cut to heal naturally.

If that's not the case then Witten will require surgery that could jeopardize his entire season, although as Witten told Archer both he and the Cowboys remain hopeful that that can be avoided.

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"Initially when they said we need to talk about it, I was a little worried of how long it could be," Witten said Thursday. "Obviously being hopeful to not having to have surgery, I thought sooner than later. That's a positive sign. Yeah, I was concerned, but ultimately we got good news from that standpoint."

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Just the possibility of surgery is enough to send Witten's fantasy stock tumbling, and even towards the bottom of the top 10 tight ends Witten is now very much a risk/reward selection in fantasy drafts.