NFL Injury Report: The Key Injuries That Could Cripple Your Fantasy Team

Here's a situation that Michael Vick owners will want to pay close attention to as well as Maclin owners.

Twice during the game on Sunday, Maclin was forced to leave the field of play. Once he was bothered by a shoulder injury, another time he was dealing with a strained hamstring. The last injury caused him to miss the end of the fourth quarter at a time when the Eagles desperately needed him on the field.

So you know the injury wasn't a little thing.

Maclin has been banged up off and on this season, yet was able to slowly wheedle his way into the primary receiver spot; partially because of great play and partially because DeSean Jackson is angering just about everybody short of the hot dog vendor with his attitude (more on Jackson in a couple slides).

If Maclin goes down for a length of time, this could be a problem not just for his owners, but Michael Vick as well. The Eagles wide receiver corps is falling apart and while I am actually a big believer in former Giant Steve Smith and think Jason Avant has his moments, it's not a group I feel that confident about.

Vick has had two mediocre to bad outings—losing his receivers, specifically Maclin, is a recipe for disaster with the fantasy playoffs looming large.

NFL Injury Report: Jeremy Maclin

Here's a situation that Michael Vick owners will want to pay close attention to as well as Maclin owners.

Twice during the game on Sunday, Maclin was forced to leave the field of play. Once he was bothered by a shoulder injury, another time he was dealing with a strained hamstring. The last injury caused him to miss the end of the fourth quarter at a time when the Eagles desperately needed him on the field.

So you know the injury wasn't a little thing.

Maclin has been banged up off and on this season, yet was able to slowly wheedle his way into the primary receiver spot; partially because of great play and partially because DeSean Jackson is angering just about everybody short of the hot dog vendor with his attitude (more on Jackson in a couple slides).

If Maclin goes down for a length of time, this could be a problem not just for his owners, but Michael Vick as well. The Eagles wide receiver corps is falling apart and while I am actually a big believer in former Giant Steve Smith and think Jason Avant has his moments, it's not a group I feel that confident about.

Vick has had two mediocre to bad outings—losing his receivers, specifically Maclin, is a recipe for disaster with the fantasy playoffs looming large.

NFL Injury Report: Willis McGahee

Scoff if you must, but Willis McGahee fell into a perfect situation with the Broncos and he's been playing very well for his fantasy owners as well, when he hasn't been hurt.

McGahee has had four 100-yard games and was coming off a two touchdown performance against the Raiders. Denver coach John Fox looks like he is going to run a lot over the course of the rest of the season and Knowshon Moreno wasn't a threat to steal many carries.

That was fine until McGahee left the game with a hamstring injury. It's looking like it could be a minor injury as it was reported that McGahee could have come back "in an emergency."

Still, McGahee has been banged up this season and hamstrings are a concern. Backup Lance Ball had a big day in relief with 96 yards on 30 carries, though his 3.2 yards per carry average isn't promising.

Watch for McGahee's status this week and don't be unprepared if he has issues getting set for this weekend.

NFL Injury Report: AJ Green

Grabbing another in a long line of extraordinary catches, AJ Green suffered what has been called a "hyper-extended knee." He feels as though he will be OK, but knees can be tricky things.

Green has had an exceptional rookie season with a pair of 100-yard games and five touchdowns so far. He hasn't been as good as other later draft picks like Carolina's Steve Smith, but he has played very well.

As a later pick who has been playing as wide receiver No. 2 for your fantasy team, the last thing you want to see is Green have a lingering knee issue.

NFL Injury Report: Frank Gore

Frank Gore was forced from the game with a knee injury on Sunday and while 49er coach Jim Harbaugh said that he will be back next week, two things concern me.

First, Gore was already dealing with an ankle sprain that won't go away. Second, Kendall Hunter looked pretty darn good. His 40 yards on six carries was solid and his 17-yard touchdown run showed good speed and burst. 

Gore is getting more and more banged up while San Francisco is locking up the NFC West early. Don't be shocked if Gore gets some time off very soon—so grab Hunter now before he's gone and you get caught short.

NFL Injury Report: DeSean Jackson

Ok, so DeSean Jackson isn't hurt in the classic sense. However as indicated by the above picture, he is whining so badly that it has affected his play—culminating in a benching against the Arizona Cardinals Sunday.

It's gotten so obnoxious that his teammates are sick of his act.

Jeremy Maclin is hurt, so maybe Jackson won't have this affect him long term (for this season—you can bet your Eagles feathers he will not get re-signed in Philly in the offseason). However, he is more worried about being healthy than winning games and this is a team which is desperate to win some games.

If he's not selling out for every play—and if you watch a route, he isn't—he isn't much use to Andy Reid.

Jackson is borderline droppable now, having been useless since Week 5 against Buffalo.

If the crying keeps up, it's going to affect his targets and then he won't even have the option to jag it out on a route.

Be ready for Jackson to see some pine time if he can't shut his yap.