The Latest Scoop on Fantasy Football's Most Notable Injuries

The third week of the NFL preseason gets underway Thursday, when most teams will conduct their "dress rehearsals,' with many of the starters playing for at least a half.

This coming weekend will also certainly be an incredibly busy one in fantasy football leagues across the land, as with just over two weeks remaining until opening night thousands of leagues will gather to conduct their drafts for the 2012 season.

To help you prepare for your upcoming get-together and keep you up to date on the latest from the training table, here's a look at some of the latest injury news regarding fantasy-relevant players.

Michael Vick Gets Banged Up...Again

Since the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles face off in Week 1 it's unlikely that you'll see much of the starters in their preseason matchup this week.

It's even more unlikely that you'll see Eagles quarterback Michael Vick at all the rest of the preseason. After exiting Philadelphia's preseason opener with a contusion on his throwing hand, Vick was forced from the Eagles' second exhibition game against the New England Patriots after taking a hard shot to the ribs.

ESPN reports that X-rays on the 32-year-old's ribs were negative, and although the team is awaiting MRI results, Vick is expected to be ready for the beginning of the regular season.

However, this string of preseason injuries just underscores Vick's durability issues, and fantasy owners interested in drafting him had better have a capable backup on their draft day radar as well.

Adrian Peterson Not Expected to Play This Preaseason

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson's rehab from last December's nasty knee injury has gone about as well as anyone could hope.

However, although Peterson has been activated and is practicing, fantasy owners hoping to see him in preseason action before spending a second-round pick on the sixth-year pro are apparently out of luck.

Dan Wiederer of The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that while the Minnesota coaching staff has been "incredibly impressed" with Peterson's progress, head coach Leslie Frazier won't play Peterson at all in the preseason.

In fact, the "no-contact" policy regarding Peterson has yet to be lifted, although Frazier indicated that that will likely change before the season opener.

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“There will be a point where we want to bang him up a little bit,” Frazier said. “I don’t know that we’ll take him to the ground. But we’ve definitely talked about letting him feel a little shock to see how he responds.”

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Long story short, "AD" stays what he's been all summer; one of the biggest risk/reward plays of 2012.

The Dallas Receiving Corps Is in Tatters

It would be a lot easier to tell you which Dallas receivers were healthy, because that list is much shorter.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN reports that wide receiver Miles Austin will join tight end Jason Witten on the shelf for the remainder of the preseason, with the former nursing a hamstring injury and the latter recovering from a lacerated spleen suffered in the team's exhibition opener.

But wait, it gets worse.

Joining Witten and Austin on the sidelines will be wideout Dez Bryant, who was forced from practice earlier this week with a knee injury.

Luckily for the Cowboys, an MRI revealed no structural damage, and team owner Jerry Jones is hopeful that Bryant, Witten and Austin will be available for Dallas' opening night tilt with the New York Giants.

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"It sounds like that he's going to be fine," Jones said of Bryant. "We'll see how it works. I would think he's probably going to be limited this weekend, but we were quite relieved that he doesn't have any structural damage in there."

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This rash of injuries not only casts doubt over the early season availability of the players involved but also the fantasy prospects of quarterback Tony Romo, as Romo will be hard-pressed to move the ball through the air if his top three targets are out of action for any amount of time.

Beanie Wells Set to Make Debut

Let's go from a group of players who won't be playing this week to one that actually will.

According to Darren Urban of azcardinals.com, running back Beanie Wells will make his preseason debut this week when the Arizona Cardinals face the Tennessee Titans, and head coach Ken Whisenhunt expects the fourth-year tailback's surgically repaired knee to hold up fine.

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“I’m excited to see him in a game,” Whisenhunt said. “There’s no concern with him at all with his health.”

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However, given Wells' recovery from offseason knee surgery and second-year pro Ryan Williams' return from a torn patellar tendon, the Arizona backfield has all the makings of a committee attack. And given the sad state of the Cardinals' offensive line, it's apt to be a lousy one to boot.

The Latest on Austin Collie

This one's just sad.

After suffering as many as three concussions in 2010, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Austin Collie made it through 16 games in 2011, and it appeared that the fourth-year pro could be set for a big role in the Colts offense in 2012.

However, all it took was one more shot to the head and not only is Collie's present now very much in doubt but his future in the NFL is as well.

Collie has been diagnosed with yet another concussion after absorbing a blow to the head in last week's preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and as The Associated Press reports via The Boston Herald, head coach Chuck Pagano offered no timetable on when (or even if) Collie might return to the field.

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“Again, player safety is first and foremost. We are always going to err on the side of caution as we talked about before. I’m more interested in the health of these guys than just throwing them back out there,” Pagano said.

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Any fantasy value Collie may have had is all but gone, but that's of little consequence right now.

Here's hoping that Austin Collie makes a full and speedy recovery, and if that means he never sets foot on the football field again, so be it.

Some things are just more important.