Beanie Wells Injury: Updates on Cardinals Star's Week 8 Status and Fantasy Value

The Arizona Cardinals have had a disastrous start to the 2011 season, with a 1-5 record and no hope on the horizon. The only good they had going was running back Beanie Wells, who is averaging 4.6 yards per carry with six rushing touchdowns. 

I say "had" because Wells suffered a sprained right knee in the second quarter of Sunday's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, leaving his status for Week 8 and the rest of the season up in the air. 

We will have all the latest news and information about Wells and his status as it becomes available, so check back to this page throughout the week. 

UPDATE: Sunday, Oct. 30 at 10:06 a.m. EDT by Brandon Galvin

After being iffy all week, Beanie Wells is expected to play today against Baltimore, according to NBC's Michael David Smith.

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"Cardinals running back Beanie Wells is good to go today in Baltimore.

Wells was expected to be a game-time decision, but Adam Schefter of ESPN passes along the word, three hours before game time, that Wells is expected to play.

What’s not clear is what role Wells will play — there was talk during the week that if Wells could play at all, it would be in a limited role."

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He is not an ideal option on the road against Ray Lewis' energized defense.

UPDATE: Saturday, Oct. 29 at 10:34 a.m. EDT by Brandon Galvin

Beanie Wells' status is up in the air heading into Week 8's meeting with the Baltimore Ravens. Expect him to be a game-time decision, according to NBC's Josh Alper.

"The good news for the Cardinals is that running back Beanie Wells was able to do more work in practice on Friday.

The bad news is that he wasn’t able to do enough to guarantee him a spot int he lineup for Sunday’s game against the Ravens. Coach Ken Whisenhunt said that Wells will be a game-time decision because of the knee injury that forced him out of last week’s loss to the Steelers. Wells is officially listed as questionable on the injury reports after limited participation in practice all week."

UPDATE: Friday, OCT. 28 at 2:20 p.m EDT- Andrew Kulha

Even though all the updates and news regarding Beanie Wells has suggested that we wouldn't see him playing, John Clayton of ESPN tweeted that he practiced and has a good shot of playing:

As far as fantasy is concerned though I wouldn't suggest taking the shot. He's banged up and going against a Ravens defense at home coming off a loss.

UPDATE: Thursday, Oct. 27 at 6:39 p.m. EDT by Brandon Galvin

Beanie Wells is unlikely to play this Sunday, according to NBC's Chris Wesseling.

UDPATE: Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 4:45 p.m. EDT - Wes O'Donnell

While Beanie Wells doesn't rule himself out of this weekend's game, one writer brings up a great point about his availability. Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic writes:

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As I noted in my blog after Sunday's game, we all would be wise to ignore what's said this week about Beanie's injury and pay attention to his availability to practice. In the past, Wells has made similar comments in similar situations. Anyone covering or following the team closely knows to be dubious about such statements.

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As I wrote earlier, this does make sense.

Obviously Wells is going to want to play, but ultimately the final decision is not up to him.

As Somers said, monitor his practice availability before making any decisions on him.

UDPATE: Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 2:08 p.m. EDT - Wes O'Donnell

The Arizona Cardinals have yet to rule out Beanie Wells for this week's game and it appears we now know why.

Many expected the injury to keep him sidelined, but the running back thinks otherwise. According to a report from ArizonaSports.com, which quotes Wells on Sports 620's Doug and Wolf show as saying:

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It's just a matter of controlling the swelling. It's just a day by day thing. Hopefully I'm out there on Sunday and I personally think I will be.

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The final decision won't be up to Wells, but it's good to hear that he wants back on the field.

We'll continue to monitor the situation, but if he's in the lineup he's worth a start.

UPDATE: Monday, Oct. 24 at 3:50 p.m. EDT

Earlier, we posted an update on Beanie Wells' knee from Kent Somers' Twitter account. Now, we have an update from him via the Arizona Republic.

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"Whisenhunt wouldn't put a timetable on Wells' return. The Cardinals were encouraged by the news because on Sunday they feared that Wells could be out for the season, Whisenhunt said.

If Wells can't play on Sunday in Baltimore, Alfonso Smith is likely to start, but LaRod Stephens-Howling and Chester Taylor likely would play there, too. 'It will be a little bit of back-by-committee," Whisenhunt said when asked who would play if Wells was out.'"

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There seem to be conflicting reports on Wells and his status for this week. An earlier report had him out 1-2 weeks, but Whisenhunt did not completely rule him out for Sunday. 

It would be a surprise if Wells is on the field this week considering how bad the injury appears to be right now. 

UPDATE: Monday, Oct. 24 at 3:30 p.m. EDT

Earlier today, the team said that Beanie Wells had suffered a bone bruise and would likely be out 1-2 weeks. That diagnosis did not sit too well with the running back, according to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic.

Wells' status likely will not change for this week, but if his knee is swollen as much as it seems, the odds of him being ready to go in two weeks would seem to decrease exponentially.

Considering all the problems that the Cardinals have on offense right now, this is not what the team needed to hear heading into a game against Baltimore. 

UPDATE: Monday, Oct. 24 at 1:35 p.m. EDT

It turns out that coach Ken Whisenhunt's initial diagnosis of "short term or long term" injury for Beanie Wells was correct. According to Jason La Canfora of NFL.com is reporting that the Cardinals running back is going to miss 1-2 weeks with a bone bruise. 

This is not the best news in the world for the Cardinals, but it is certainly better than having him miss the rest of the season. 

Fantasy owners wouldn't miss much next week, as the Cardinals take on the Ravens. But if you have him, you hope that he is back for Week 10 against St. Louis, which just gave up 253 yards to DeMarco Murray. 

Monday, Oct. 24 at 12:35 p.m. EDT

Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt had nothing conclusive to say about Wells' knee in the postgame press conference but did mention that his star running back will be evaluated on Monday afternoon. 

"We'll check him out (Monday) and see," Whisenhunt said. "I don't know if it's short term or long term."

At this point, no news is good news. But we will have to wait and see what happens after he is checked out later today. 

This will be a huge loss both for the Cardinals and fantasy players who depend on the running back to carry their offense if he is out for any length of time.