Mike Vick's Injury: Week 4 Fantasy Football Advice

Mike Vick's hand injury has many fantasy owners worried as they enter week 4 of the NFL season. I'm here to tell you that Vick's type of injury does not warrant sitting your star QB.

Mike Vick is amazingly durable despite all of the beatings and injuries he has taken throughout his career. Often labeled as injury prone, if you remove the 2003 broken-leg season for the Falcons, Mike Vick has only missed six games in five years due to injury. He has played through minor injuries most of his career, and this week is nothing new.

The injury is to his non-throwing hand and was originally misdiagnosed as a broken hand. While I'm sure it is still painful, the injury could best be described as a pretty nasty bruise. Coming off a loss to the Giants only adds fuel to the fire, as he and the Eagles look to bounce back from a disappointing loss. Week 4 looks to be a promising week for Eagles fans and Mike Vick fantasy football owners.

Mike Vick and the Eagles' offense are going against a 49ers defense that has had favorable matchups against a couple of bad teams. According to Yahoo! Sports, the 49ers have allowed the 21st fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks. Might I remind you that three of those quarterbacks were:

Tarvaris Jackson (Sea): two TDs and 197 yards passing

Jon Kitna (Dal): one TD and 87 yards passing (replacing an injured Tony Romo)

Andy Dalton (Cin): zero TD and 157 yards passing

However, when actually forced to face a good QB like Tony Romo, the San Francisco 49ers' secondary was decimated by the Cowboys' passing attack. Romo put up 345 yards and two TDs en route to a come-from-behind victory—might I remind you he had a broken rib and apparently a collapsed lung as well.

If you collapse one of the lungs of the opposing QB, and you still can't stop him from passing all over your secondary, what hope is there for you against a guy with a bruised hand? 

While the 49ers will be aiming to attack Vick and the injury to his hand by bringing extra pressure, look for Andy Reid to offset that pressure with more screens and designed roll-outs. 

Mike should have a strong showing this week against the 49ers. 

Even though he has tried to transition into a pocket passer, he is still a runner at heart, and I expect him to rely on his legs a little bit more to help create the extra time needed to let the plays develop as he did in the past. Whenever Vick uses his legs to buy time, you can always expect bigger passing plays and breakout runs. I'm expecting to see a line of 220-270 yards passing, with two TDs in the air and another 40-70 yards on the ground and another TD. Don't be too shocked to see a lost fumble, as securing the football may be harder with the hurt hand.

In other words, fret not, Mike Vick fantasy football owners, Week 4 is your week to pad your stats with a repeat of last year's stellar stats, despite the hand injury. So you can go ahead and return the Kyle Ortons and Rex Grossmans back to the bench where they belong.