Two weeks into the NFL season, it’s not looking good for the Minnesota Vikings. The silver lining is that they are staying relatively healthy, which can’t be said for a lot of stars across the league. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at some the lower body injuries that will keep some of the game’s biggest stars out for weeks or longer.
Saquan, McCaffrey and Everyone Else
If you’re in a fantasy league or follow professional football at all, you’re probably familiar with the names Saquan Barkley and Christian McCaffrey. Odds are they were the first two picks, or at least first round picks, in your fantasy draft this season, and if you read our preseason NFL blog, you’ll remember that Barkley made the list of guys coming off a lower body injury last season.
Barkley injured his ankle last year and missed some time, and while we didn’t see it as a problem heading into this year, we did note that the team would likely be cautious with him if he suffered another injury that he wanted to rush back from this year. The team won’t have a hard decision ahead of them this time, as today’s MRI revealed that Barkley suffered a torn ACL in his right knee. Team officials said Barkley would have surgery in the “near future” to address the torn ligament. The bright spot here being that it occurred early in the season, so assuming all goes as planned, he should be able to make a full recovery ahead of next season. How productive he’ll be is another question, but he has youth and strength on his side, so we aren’t betting against him.
Another star running back that will be forced to miss some time with a lower body injury is Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey injured his right ankle while being tackled on a touchdown run on the second half. McCaffrey hobbled to the sideline and did not return to the contest. First impressions of the injury and McCaffrey’s ability to walk on the foot suggested that it was a somewhat minor ankle injury, but an MRI revealed that he was dealing with a high ankle sprain. He’s now expected to be out 4-6 weeks with the injury.
Interestingly, Barkley dealt with this same injury last year, and he was only sidelined three weeks despite early projections that had him missing 6-8 weeks. However, Barkley was still clearly hampered by the injury when he returned, and he wasn’t as effective. The Panthers would be wise to give their franchise running back plenty of time to heal so his ankle ligaments can properly strengthen and he’s not at at an elevated risk for re-injury upon return. There are different levels of ankle injuries, but we’d guess he won’t be close to normal for at least a month, even if he does get back on the field before then.
Other notable injuries around the league:
Nick Bosa – ACL – Out for the year.
Davante Adams – Hamstring – Waiting on more news, but he was likely held out because the game was a blowout at that point, so we’d expect him back on the field in Week 3.
Courtland Sutton – ACL – Out for the year.
Jimmy Garoppolo – High Ankle Sprain – Expected to miss a few weeks.
Raheem Mostert – Mild MCL sprain – Expected to be back sooner rather than later, may miss a few games.