Week 8 Friday Injury Report: Tua Returning, Tyreek Questionable, DK Doubtful

Below you'll find four different categories. The bottom section — truly questionable — is sorted by kickoff times and can be used as a checklist/cheatsheet for Sunday morning and afternoon when inactives come out. First, let's see who's definitely in and who's definitely out...

Good to Go 💯

• QB Tua Tagovailoa (concussion)
• RB Jonathan Taylor (ankle)
• RB Alvin Kamara (hand/ribs)
• RB Kareem Hunt (hip)
• RB Kenneth Walker (illness)
• RB Rhamondre Stevenson (toe/personal)
• RB Jordan Mason (shoulder)
• WRs Jayden Reed (ankle) & Christian Watson (ankle)
• WR Chris Olave (concussion)
• WRs Josh Downs (groin/toe) & Michael Pittman (back)
• WR Calvin Ridley (foot)
• WR Jaylen Waddle (quad)
• WR Chris Conley (ankle)
• WR Gabe Davis (shoulder)
• TEs Dalton Kincaid (collarbone) & Dawson Knox (ankle)
• TE Juwan Johnson (shoulder)
• TE Ja'Tavion Sanders (wrist/groin)
• TE Taysom Hill (ribs)

Ruled Out/Doubtful 🚑 

• QB Derek Carr (D - oblique)
• QB Andy Dalton (D - finger)
• RB Tyjae Spears (hamstring)
• RB Jonathon Brooks (D - ACL)
• RB Jerome Ford (hamstring)
• RB Cordarrelle Patterson (D - ankle)
• WR DK Metcalf (D - MCL sprain)
• WR Jauan Jennings (hip)
• WRs Diontae Johnson (ribs) & Adam Thielen (IR - hamstring)
• WR Allen Lazard (D - chest)
• WRs Quentin Johnston (D - ankle) & Derius Davis (D - hamstring)
• WR Ja'Lynn Polk (concussion)
• WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (hamstring)
• WR Cedrick Wilson (hip)
• WR Curtis Samuel (pectoral)
• WR Roman Wilson (hamstring)
• TE Dallas Goedert (hamstring)

Players likely to take on larger roles this week due to teammate injuries include Panthers QB Bryce Young, Saints QB Spencer Rattler, Titans RB Tony Pollard, Browns RB Pierre Strong, Seahawks WR Jake Bobo, 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall, Panthers WRs Jalen Coker & Jonathan Mingo, Jets WR Mike Williams, Chargers WRs Joshua Palmer & Simi Fehoko and Eagles TE Grant Calcaterra.

Listed as Questionable - Should Play 👍

• RB Bucky Irving (toe)

Irving is expected to play this Sunday, but his general fantasy outlook takes a slight hit after coach Todd Bowles revealed Friday that Irving has dealt with turf toe on and off since college. While not uncommon, it's also not ideal, especially for a running back.

Truly Questionable / Game-Time Decisions 🤔

Early Games

• QB Will Levis (shoulder)
• RB Travis Etienne (hamstring)
• WR Tee Higgins (quad)
• WR Tyreek Hill (foot)
• WR Zay Flowers (ankle)

Titans coach Brain Callahan said he expects Mason Rudolph to start at QB against the Lions, which means Levis might only be the backup if he's active Sunday. The combination of Levis not playing, DeAndre Hopkins getting traded and the Titans likely playing from behind opens up some opportunity for production from ancillary Tennessee pass catchers like Tyler Boyd and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.

Hill and Higgins were midweek additions to the injury report, with the former hurting his foot Thursday and the latter suffering a quad injury Friday. Hill didn't practice Friday, but coach Mike McDaniel said he's optimistic the superstar wideout will play. Higgins is probably less likely to play, if only because he has a long history of upper-leg injuries and the Bengals were cautious when he suffered his latest hamstring pull in early September. Andrei Iosivas and Mike Gesicki were bigger parts of the passing game while Higgins was out, and they could re-emerge in his absence, with Trenton Irwin and Jermaine Burton then being the candidates to fill in as the No. 3 receiver. A Hill absence for Miami would drastically increase Jaylen Waddle's volume projection and might open up a full-time role for rookie Malik Washington. The Dolphins also have Odell Beckham, but he hasn't handled a typical starter's workload since last September (with Baltimore) and then got injured almost immediately.

Flowers and Etienne also appear truly questionable, with potential absences boosting the fantasy prospects of Rashod Bateman and Tank Bigsby, respectively.

Late-Afternoon Games

• QB Jayden Daniels (ribs)
• WR Jakobi Meyers (ankle)
• WRs Ladd McConkey (hip) & DJ Chark (IR - groin)
• TEs Will Dissly (shoulder) & Hayden Hurst (groin)

Things are really up in air for the Chargers WRs and TEs, with four pass catchers listed as questionable and two doubtful. McConkey seems likely to play, having played through the same injury last week, while the others appear in more danger of sitting out. Dissly has made a case to play ahead of Hurst in passing situations once both are available, but that may not happen for another week or two.

Daniels is considered a game-time decision for the Commanders and will participate in Saturday's walk-through after being limited Friday in his only official practice of the week. The Commanders may try to keep their decision from going public even if they make it Saturday or Sunday morning rather than allowing Daniels to be a true game-time decision. It's also a situation where "leaked" information has some risk of being inaccurate, i.e., the reports are coming from team sources that hope to deceive their opponent (and don't care about the wrath of angry fantasy managers).

Primetime Games

• WR Deebo Samuel (illness)
• TE George Kittle (foot)

I'm guessing Samuel and Kittle will play even if they aren't 100 percent, as the 49ers can't afford to keep losing and are already missing Brandon Aiyuk (knee) and Jauan Jennings (hip). Either way, rookie Ricky Pearsall is set for a key role. The question is whether Chris Conley, Jacob Cowing and/or Ronnie Bell will also get a lot of playing time.