Bottom Line Up Front at QB

Lamar Jackson (BAL, ankle) is the week’s biggest shock, ruled out with Tyler Huntley stepping in. Jayden Daniels (WAS) is officially back after missing three games with his elbow — but his fill-in, Marcus Mariota, now goes down with a knee injury of his own. Caleb Williams (CHI, hamstring) misses a third straight start, and Jaxson Dart (NYG) remains out for the season with Jameis Winston entrenched as the starter.

This week’s QB report covers 11 players: 2 already played this week, 4 out, 1 no final tag yet (monday-night clubs), 4 cleared / no game-status designation.

Who is on this report?

Lamar Jackson (BAL), Caleb Williams (CHI), Deshaun Watson (CLE), Trey Lance (LAC), Aidan O’Connell (LV), Tyler Shough (NO), Jaxson Dart (NYG), Baker Mayfield (TB), Jalon Daniels (TB), Jayden Daniels (WAS), Marcus Mariota (WAS)

What changed since Week 4

• UPGRADED: Aidan O’Connell (LV) — Resolved/cleared — was Questionable (personal reasons) on the Oct 2 report, now off the report entirely
• UPGRADED: Jayden Daniels (WAS) — Upgraded from OUT (elbow dislocation, Mariota starting) last week to no game-status designation this week — fully cleared and active.
• NEW: Lamar Jackson (BAL) — NEW this week — Jackson was not on last week’s (Oct. 2) report at all (full participant, no designation, dealing only with a back issue). He suffered the ankle injury during the Week 4 game itself and was downgraded through the week from day-to-day rumors to an official OUT by Friday, Oct. 9.
• NEW: Marcus Mariota (WAS) — New wrinkle — Mariota was WAS’s healthy starter all of last week while Daniels sat; this week the roles flip and Mariota himself is OUT with a knee injury the same week Daniels returns.
• UPGRADED: Tyler Shough (NO) — New minor note this week, resolved by the final report – not an issue last week.

Waiver wire: who gains if these names sit

• If Lamar Jackson (BAL) can’t go — Massive downgrade for the entire BAL passing offense; Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, Mark Andrews all see reduced ceilings with Huntley under center, while Derrick Henry’s rushing role could see a slight bump in a more run-heavy game plan
• If Marcus Mariota (WAS) can’t go — Irrelevant now that Daniels is active; no streaming value this week.
• If Jaxson Dart (NYG) can’t go — Giants’ only fantasy-relevant QB is now Jameis Winston; no streaming value from the Dart side of the depth chart.
• If Caleb Williams (CHI) can’t go — Tyson Bagent starts again for Chicago, which drags down the floor/ceiling of CHI pass catchers (Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Colston Loveland) in a backup-QB offense
• If Baker Mayfield (TB) can’t go — Jalon Daniels remains the Week 5 (and likely Week 6, pending Mayfield’s health) streaming/QB2 option; volume concerns are a mild drag on Egbuka/Godwin/Irving target and game-script value.
• If Jalon Daniels (TB) can’t go — Only a streaming-level QB2 option in most 12-team leagues; his presence (rather than a true backup) is a mild positive for Tampa Bay’s skill players’ floor.

How to read this report

• Designations reflect Friday, October 9, 2026 final injury/practice reports where filed.
• Dallas (DAL) and Tampa Bay (TB) already played their Week 5 game Thursday night, October 8 — their entries reflect that completed game, not an upcoming one.
• Buffalo (BUF) and the L.A. Rams (LAR) play each other Monday night, October 12 — some of their tags may not be finalized until Saturday.
• Kansas City (KC) and Carolina (CAR) are on their Week 5 bye — no new injury report this week for either team.
• “No Final Tag Yet” means a real injury concern exists but the club hasn’t filed (or confirmed) an official Week 5 game-status designation as of this report.

Already Played This Week (2)

These players’ games were already decided by Thursday night, before this Friday report — included for full-week context and any waiver-wire fallout.

• Baker Mayfield (TB, Normal starting QB1; Jalon Daniels is elevated to starter in his absence) — OUT (a) Final Week 5 Buccaneers/NFL.com injury report (vs. Dallas, Thu 10/8) lists Mayfield Out with a thumb injury (dislocated thumb suffered late in Tampa Bay’s loss to the Vikings in late September 2026; exact date not independently confirmed).
  Injury: Dislocated right thumb (since Late September 2026 (Week 3, vs. Minnesota) – exact date not independently confirmed this session). Typical recovery: Dislocated thumb with stitches/pinning typically 3-6 weeks. Expected back: Targeting Week 6 (Oct. 15 vs. Pittsburgh), per Tom Pelissero; not guaranteed. Week 5 status: Will not play Week 5 vs. Dallas (already ruled Out before Thursday’s game). Next 4 games: Likely misses Week 5; Week 6 return is the stated target but a Pelissero report called it ‘tough, but not impossible’ with the short week not in his favor. If Week 6 return holds, back for the bulk of the next 4-game stretch; monitor Wednesday/Thursday practice reports in Weeks 6-7.. Fantasy impact: Jalon Daniels remains the Week 5 (and likely Week 6, pending Mayfield’s health) streaming/QB2 option; volume concerns are a mild drag on Egbuka/Godwin/Irving target and game-script value.
• Jalon Daniels (TB, QB2 on the depth chart, but current starter) — NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION (a) Not on the injury report; elevated starter with Mayfield Out.
  Injury: None (since N/A). Typical recovery: N/A. Expected back: N/A – healthy. Week 5 status: Expected to start Week 5 vs. Dallas. Next 4 games: Starts as long as Mayfield is out; reverts to backup once Mayfield (targeting Week 6) is cleared.. Fantasy impact: Only a streaming-level QB2 option in most 12-team leagues; his presence (rather than a true backup) is a mild positive for Tampa Bay’s skill players’ floor.

Out (4)

Ruled out, on injured reserve, PUP, exempt, or suspended — not expected to play Week 5.

• Lamar Jackson (BAL, Starting QB1 (currently out; Tyler Huntley elevated to starter for Week 5)) — OUT (a) Left ankle sprain suffered in the Week 4 win over Tennessee; officially ruled out for Week 5 vs. Atlanta by HC Jesse Minter on Friday, Oct. 9.
  Injury: Left ankle sprain (since Week 4, on/around Oct. 4, 2026 (vs. Titans)). Typical recovery: Ankle sprains of this type typically sideline a mobile QB 1-4 weeks depending on severity; reporting indicated it is not considered long-term and surgery is not expected. Expected back: Uncertain; being managed day-to-day/week-to-week, earliest realistic return Week 6 (Oct. 18) but could extend further. Week 5 status: Will NOT play Week 5 vs. Falcons; Tyler Huntley starts in his place. Next 4 games: Out Week 5; Week 6 and beyond depend on re-evaluation of the ankle. Huntley projected to start at least Week 5 and possibly longer if Jackson’s recovery is slow. Fantasy impact: Massive downgrade for the entire BAL passing offense; Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, Mark Andrews all see reduced ceilings with Huntley under center, while Derrick Henry’s rushing role could see a slight bump in a more run-heavy game plan
• Caleb Williams (CHI, QB1 (sidelined); Tyson Bagent is starting in his place for a 2nd consecutive game, with Case Keenum as the healthy backup) — OUT (a) Grade 2 right hamstring strain suffered in the Sept. 20 (Week 3) loss to Minnesota; head coach Ben Johnson formally ruled him out for Week 5 against Green Bay.
  Injury: Hamstring (Grade 2 strain), right leg (since September 20, 2026 (Week 3 vs. Minnesota)). Typical recovery: Grade 2 hamstring strains typically sideline players roughly 3-6 weeks. Expected back: Best case Oct. 18 (Week 6 at Atlanta); more realistic target cited by beat reporters is Nov. 2 (Week 8 vs. Seattle). Week 5 status: Will not play Week 5 vs. Green Bay. Next 4 games: Expected to miss Week 5 and likely Week 6; targeting a return around Week 7-8 depending on how rehab progresses. Fantasy impact: Tyson Bagent starts again for Chicago, which drags down the floor/ceiling of CHI pass catchers (Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Colston Loveland) in a backup-QB offense
• Jaxson Dart (NYG, Was QB1 before the injury; now on Reserve/Injured list) — RESERVE-INJURED (c) Season-ending knee injury; placed on Reserve/Injured, confirmed out for the rest of the 2026 regular season.
  Injury: Knee (since September 20, 2026 (hit by two Rams defenders on the Giants’ opening drive at SoFi Stadium)). Typical recovery: Season-ending; knee surgery recovery typically 6-9+ months. Expected back: Not expected back in 2026. Week 5 status: Out — on Injured Reserve for the season. Next 4 games: No fantasy relevance in 2026; Jameis Winston remains the every-week starter. Fantasy impact: Giants’ only fantasy-relevant QB is now Jameis Winston; no streaming value from the Dart side of the depth chart.
• Marcus Mariota (WAS, QB2 (was the Week 2-4 starter)) — OUT (a) Knee injury; DNP all three practice days (Wed/Thu/Fri) on the official Friday 10/9 report.
  Injury: Knee (since Within Week 4/5 practice window (early October 2026); exact date not specified in sourcing). Typical recovery: Knee sprains of this type typically run 1-3 weeks depending on grade. Expected back: Unclear — likely Week 6 or later if WAS needs him again. Week 5 status: Out for Week 5 vs. NYG. Next 4 games: No standalone fantasy value even if Daniels were to miss time again, since Mariota himself is now hurt — Kaliakmanis would be the emergency option. Fantasy impact: Irrelevant now that Daniels is active; no streaming value this week.

No Final Tag Yet (Monday-Night Clubs) (1)

Carries a real injury concern, but the club hasn’t filed (or confirmed) its final Week 5 tag yet — check back Saturday.

• Trey Lance (LAC, QB2 (backup)) — QUESTIONABLE (b) Groin injury; this is the Chargers’ last independently-confirmed designation, from the Week 4 (Oct 2) Friday report (limited all three practice days). No fantasy relevance behind healthy starter Justin Herbert. This session could not independently re-verify the Chargers’ Week 5 (Oct 9) Friday tag via available sources — treat this as a carryover pending official confirmation, not a verified current-week status.
  Injury: Groin (since Not specified; was already on the injury report as of the Oct 2 (Week 4) report). Typical recovery: Groin strains typically require 1-3 weeks depending on severity. Expected back: Not fantasy-relevant to track closely. Week 5 status: Unconfirmed for Week 5; last known status (Week 4) was Questionable. Next 4 games: No fantasy relevance expected at any point behind a healthy Justin Herbert. Fantasy impact: None in standard leagues — purely an injury-insurance name behind Herbert

Cleared / No Game-Status Designation (4)

Managing something, but carries no game-status designation and is expected to play.

• Deshaun Watson (CLE, Starting QB1) — NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION (b) Healthy; not listed on the Week 5 injury report and remains the unquestioned starter.
  Injury: N/A — fully recovered from the 2025 Achilles tear (since N/A (prior-season injury, not currently active)). Typical recovery: N/A. Expected back: N/A — already active and playing. Week 5 status: Expected to start Week 5 at N.Y. Jets. Next 4 games: No injury concerns reported; locked in as CLE’s starting QB. Fantasy impact: No one benefits from his absence since he’s not injured; remains a streamable low-end fantasy QB option given Cleveland’s receiving weapons
• Aidan O’Connell (LV, QB3) — RESOLVED (a) Personal/non-injury matter; listed Questionable last week (Oct 2) for a personal/non-injury reason, but is entirely absent from the Raiders’ official Week 5 (Oct 9) Friday report, indicating the matter has been resolved and he carries no game-status designation this week.
  Injury: N/A (non-injury, personal matter) (since N/A). Typical recovery: N/A. Expected back: N/A — appears fully available. Week 5 status: No game-status designation for Week 5; presumed fully available as the No. 3 QB. Next 4 games: No fantasy relevance expected; stays the No. 3 QB behind healthy starter Kirk Cousins. Fantasy impact: None — has no path to fantasy relevance behind a healthy Kirk Cousins
• Tyler Shough (NO, QB1, starter) — NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION (a) Full participation and no designation on the final Week 5 report, despite a mid-week headline noting a left-hand issue.
  Injury: Left hand (minor; resolved by Friday per the official report) (since This week (on or before Wed. 10/7/2026)). Typical recovery: Minor hand issue, days. Expected back: Already cleared. Week 5 status: Expected to start Week 5 vs. Minnesota. Next 4 games: No concern expected; remains the unquestioned starter.. Fantasy impact: None – he starts regardless; worth only a note for in-season QB streamers in deeper leagues.
• Jayden Daniels (WAS, QB1) — NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION (a) Fully practiced Mon-Fri (FP/FP/FP) on the official Friday 10/9 report with no game-status tag; cleared and set to start.
  Injury: Left elbow (dislocation) (since On or before Week 2 2026 (carted off vs. Dallas Cowboys); exact date not specified in sourcing). Typical recovery: Elbow dislocations typically run 3-6 weeks depending on severity/instability. Expected back: Already returning Week 5 (10/11/2026) — roughly 3 weeks after the injury. Week 5 status: Expected to start at QB vs. NYG, Week 5. Next 4 games: Full workload expected barring setback; QB1-caliber weekly fantasy starter once back up to speed. Fantasy impact: His return pushes Mariota back to the bench; also lifts the floor for McLaurin, Diggs, Burks and Okonkwo as the clear passing triggerman.

Sourcing: NFL.com official injury reports, team-issued injury reports, Ourlads depth charts, and beat-reporter coverage, as of Friday, October 9, 2026.

NFL Week 5 Fantasy Football Injury Report Friday QB first appeared on Game On Media.

Bottom Line Up Front at QB

Three starting quarterbacks are out this week — Jayden Daniels (WAS, elbow), Caleb Williams (CHI, hamstring) and Baker Mayfield (TB, thumb) — while the Giants are moving on from Jaxson Dart for the season after a Week 3 knee injury. Deshaun Watson, back from his Achilles tear, keeps piling up full practices and extends his streak as Cleveland’s clear starter.

This week’s QB report covers 8 players: 1 already played this week, 4 out, 2 questionable, 1 cleared / no game-status designation.

Who is on this report?

Caleb Williams (CHI), Deshaun Watson (CLE), Trey Lance (LAC), Aidan O’Connell (LV), Jaxson Dart (NYG), Baker Mayfield (TB), Jalon Daniels (TB), Jayden Daniels (WAS)

What changed since Week 3

• NEW: Baker Mayfield (TB) — Newly appeared on injury report this week (was healthy/starting through Week 3); downgraded to Out by Friday after DNP all week
• NEW: Jaxson Dart (NYG) — Newly season-ending – injury occurred in Week 3 itself; initial hope for a mid-season return was replaced by a decision to have surgery
• NEW: Trey Lance (LAC) — Newly appeared on the injury report this week

Waiver wire: who gains if these names sit

• If Deshaun Watson (CLE) can’t go — N/A while active; Shedeur Sanders is the primary backup who would start if Watson were ever sidelined
• If Jayden Daniels (WAS) can’t go — Marcus Mariota starts Week 4 and is a streamable option; Daniels remains unownable/bench-only until a full practice week is confirmed
• If Jaxson Dart (NYG) can’t go — Jameis Winston is now the full-time starter and the streamable/backup QB of relevance for Giants fantasy rosters; Dart should be dropped in most redraft leagues
• If Caleb Williams (CHI) can’t go — Ben Johnson has not named a starter between Case Keenum (QB2) and Tyson Bagent (QB3) as of Friday; whichever gets the start becomes a desperation-only streamer, and the uncertainty under center is a modest drag on Bears pass-catchers Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet this week
• If Baker Mayfield (TB) can’t go — Jalon Daniels (rookie) starts in his place; expect a modest dip in volume/efficiency for Egbuka, Godwin, and the TB passing-game pieces until Mayfield returns

How to read this report

• Designations reflect Friday, October 2, 2026 final injury/practice reports where filed.
• Cleveland (CLE) and Pittsburgh (PIT) already played their Week 4 game Thursday night, October 1 — their entries reflect that completed game, not an upcoming one.
• Atlanta (ATL) and New Orleans (NO) play each other Monday night, October 5 — some of their tags may not be finalized until Saturday.
• “No Final Tag Yet” means a real injury concern exists but the club hasn’t filed (or confirmed) an official Week 4 game-status designation as of this report.

Already Played This Week (1)

These players’ games were already decided by Thursday night, before this Friday report — included for full-week context and any waiver-wire fallout.

• Deshaun Watson (CLE, QB1) — NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION (b) Not on the Week 4 injury report at all (full practice participation); flagged here because he is less than a year removed from a ruptured-and-re-ruptured Achilles and only reclaimed the Browns’ starting job in August 2026 — a material ongoing fantasy/durability story even with a clean report.
  Injury: Right Achilles tendon rupture (original tear Oct. 20, 2024 vs. Cincinnati; re-ruptured shortly after, repaired via surgery Jan. 9, 2025) (since Oct. 20, 2024 (original); Jan. 9, 2025 (surgery after re-tear)). Typical recovery: Full recovery from a ruptured Achilles typically runs 9-12+ months before a return to competitive snaps. Expected back: Already returned — won the Week 1 2026 starting job over Shedeur Sanders and has started every game through Week 4. Week 4 status: Expected to start Week 5 as the healthy incumbent QB1, barring setback. Next 4 games: No limitations reported through four starts (multi-TD Week 3 outing with 11 rushes for 45 yards vs. Carolina); mobility/workload still worth monitoring given the injury’s severity, but no current red flags. Fantasy impact: N/A while active; Shedeur Sanders is the primary backup who would start if Watson were ever sidelined

Out (4)

Ruled out, on injured reserve, PUP, exempt, or suspended — not expected to play Week 4.

• Caleb Williams (CHI, QB1 (starter)) — OUT (a) Grade 2 right hamstring strain. Did not practice Wednesday or Thursday (walkthrough only reported), no Friday practice participation reported. Officially ruled out for Week 4 vs. the New York Jets — his second consecutive missed start.
  Injury: Right hamstring strain (Grade 2) (since Week 2, 2026 (exact date unclear); has already missed Week 3). Typical recovery: A Grade 2 hamstring strain typically sidelines a player 3-6 weeks. Expected back: Unclear; team has given no firm timeline beyond ‘multi-week.’ Earliest realistic return would be Week 5 (Oct 11) but is not confirmed. Week 4 status: Out for Week 4 vs. New York Jets. Next 4 games: Expected to miss additional time beyond Week 4; Chicago has not committed to a return week, so a conservative outlook has him out multiple more games before a clean hamstring allows a return. Fantasy impact: Ben Johnson has not named a starter between Case Keenum (QB2) and Tyson Bagent (QB3) as of Friday; whichever gets the start becomes a desperation-only streamer, and the uncertainty under center is a modest drag on Bears pass-catchers Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet this week
• Jaxson Dart (NYG, Former QB1, now on injured reserve / off the active depth chart) — RESERVE-INJURED (c) Season-ending knee injury suffered on the Giants’ opening offensive drive of the Week 3 Monday night loss to the Rams; will have surgery and is out for the remainder of 2026. He is off the current active depth chart – Jameis Winston has taken over as the starter.
  Injury: Knee (since Week 3 (Monday night, approx. Sept 28/29, 2026, vs. L.A. Rams)). Typical recovery: Season-ending knee surgery recoveries typically run 6-9+ months. Expected back: Not expected back in 2026; timeline would point to availability for the 2027 season. Week 4 status: Out (season-ending) – will not play Week 4 or beyond in 2026. Next 4 games: Out for the rest of the season; Jameis Winston is the Giants’ starter with J.J. McCarthy as the backup. Fantasy impact: Jameis Winston is now the full-time starter and the streamable/backup QB of relevance for Giants fantasy rosters; Dart should be dropped in most redraft leagues
• Baker Mayfield (TB, QB1 (starter) – currently sidelined; Jalon Daniels elevated to starter) — OUT (a) Right thumb injury; did not practice Wednesday or Thursday of Week 4 prep, and the Buccaneers’ official Friday report and CBS Sports’ Week 4 injury tracker both list him as Out for the Packers game. Jalon Daniels has been named the Week 4 starter in his place.
  Injury: Right thumb (since Week 4 practice week (approx. Sept 30, 2026)). Typical recovery: Thumb sprains/fractures in throwing-hand typically require 3-5 weeks depending on severity (ligament sprain vs. fracture). Expected back: Approx. Week 7 (~Oct 25, 2026) per CBS Sports. Week 4 status: Out for Week 4 vs. Green Bay; rookie Jalon Daniels starts. Next 4 games: Likely to miss multiple weeks (through roughly Week 6-7); Jalon Daniels expected to start in the interim, which materially lowers the passing-game floor for Tampa Bay’s pass catchers. Fantasy impact: Jalon Daniels (rookie) starts in his place; expect a modest dip in volume/efficiency for Egbuka, Godwin, and the TB passing-game pieces until Mayfield returns
• Jayden Daniels (WAS, QB1 (currently sidelined)) — OUT (a) Left elbow dislocation suffered in Week 2 vs. Dallas (tripped on a dropback, fell on outstretched arm); imaging showed no fracture or ligament damage, but this is his second dislocation of the same elbow in two seasons. Limited practice participation all week; officially ruled out Friday for the Colts game in London.
  Injury: Left elbow dislocation (since Week 2 (game vs. Dallas Cowboys, approx. Sept 20, 2026)). Typical recovery: Elbow dislocations without fracture/ligament tear typically require 3-6 weeks; a recurrent dislocation in the same joint can run longer. Expected back: Uncertain; HC Dan Quinn says the benchmark is a full, unrestricted week of practice, which has not yet happened as of Week 4 – realistic target is Week 5 or 6. Week 4 status: Will not play Week 4 vs. Colts; Marcus Mariota starts. Next 4 games: Week 4 out; Weeks 5-7 dependent on a clean full practice week – team is being deliberately cautious given the repeat injury, so a Week 5 return is not guaranteed. Fantasy impact: Marcus Mariota starts Week 4 and is a streamable option; Daniels remains unownable/bench-only until a full practice week is confirmed

Questionable (2)

Game-time decisions as of Friday’s final report — trust your waiver wire just in case.

• Trey Lance (LAC, QB2 (backup to Justin Herbert)) — QUESTIONABLE (a) groin injury; Limited Participation in practice this week, officially Questionable per the Friday report.
  Injury: Groin strain (since Week 4 (exact date unclear from available sources)). Typical recovery: Groin strains typically require 1-3 weeks depending on severity. Expected back: Expected recovery within 1-2 weeks regardless of whether he plays through it Week 4. Week 4 status: Questionable, but irrelevant to the starting lineup — Justin Herbert (QB1) is healthy and the expected starter. Next 4 games: No fantasy relevance as a clipboard-holding backup unless Herbert is sidelined. Fantasy impact: None in standard 1-QB leagues — DJ Uiagalelei is QB3; only matters if Herbert is hurt
• Aidan O’Connell (LV, QB2 (backup to Kirk Cousins)) — QUESTIONABLE (a) personal matter, non-injury; Did Not Participate Thursday and is listed Questionable for Week 4 for a non-physical reason rather than an injury.
  Injury: N/A — non-injury personal absence, not a physical injury (since Week 4 (reported starting Thursday, Oct 1, 2026)). Typical recovery: N/A — not an injury. Expected back: Unclear; status is day-to-day pending resolution of the personal matter. Week 4 status: Questionable for Week 4 vs. Kansas City; does not affect the starting QB spot. Next 4 games: No material fantasy relevance — Kirk Cousins is the clear-cut starter and is healthy. Fantasy impact: None in a 1-QB league since starter Kirk Cousins is healthy and expected to play

Cleared / No Game-Status Designation (1)

Managing something, but carries no game-status designation and is expected to play.

• Jalon Daniels (TB, QB2, elevated to starter) — NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION (a) Healthy; elevated to starting quarterback for Week 4 because Baker Mayfield (thumb) is Out.
  Injury: N/A – not injured (since N/A). Typical recovery: N/A. Expected back: N/A (active). Week 4 status: Expected to start Week 4 vs. Green Bay. Next 4 games: Likely to remain the starter for as long as Mayfield is out (roughly through Week 6-7). Fantasy impact: First career start for a rookie QB behind a line and skill group adjusting to a new passer; treat TB pass-catchers with slightly lowered weekly expectations until proven

Sourcing: NFL.com official injury reports, team-issued injury reports, Ourlads depth charts, and beat-reporter coverage, as of Friday, October 2, 2026.

NFL Week 4 Fantasy Football Injury Report Friday QB first appeared on Game On Media.

Bottom Line Up Front at Quarterback

Quarterback is the position Week 2 broke. Minnesota lost Kyler Murray to the concussion protocol and will start Carson Wentz rather than J.J. McCarthy, Seattle lost Sam Darnold to a hip-area strain, and Atlanta is still working through the same two-quarterback problem it opened the season with. Cincinnati spent the week waiting on Joe Burrow’s back and got the Friday answer it wanted.

Of the 19 quarterbacks on this board, 8 are out or doubtful, 2 carry a Questionable tag that decides itself on gameday, and 9 were listed at some point this week but finished it with no designation at all.

Below is every fantasy-relevant quarterback across all 32 teams carrying an injury or an absence, with the final designation, what the injury actually is, how long that class of injury normally takes to heal, where each player sits on his team’s depth chart, and who stands to gain if he can’t go.

Who is on this report?

Michael Penix Jr. (ATL), Kyler Murray (MIN), Sam Darnold (SEA), Skylar Thompson (BAL), Graham Mertz (HOU), Matthew Caldwell (LAR), Dillon Gabriel (CLE), Tua Tagovailoa (ATL), Joe Burrow (CIN), Aidan O’Connell (LV), Cooper Rush (ATL), Jared Goff (DET), Daniel Jones (IND), Patrick Mahomes (KC), Malik Willis (MIA), Anthony Richardson Sr. (IND), Mitchell Trubisky (TEN), Marcus Mariota (WAS), Tyson Bagent (CHI)

What changed since Week 1

This is the first full week of in-season attrition — injuries from actual games rather than camp and preseason, plus the roster moves that follow them. Across the 19 quarterbacks here: 7 are new to the report, 3 improved or cleared outright, 2 got worse, and 7 are carrying the same status they had a week ago. The pattern worth internalizing: the Week 1 designations that resolved upward mostly stayed resolved, and the new names on this list came off the field on Sunday, not out of the training room.

Waiver wire: who gains if these names sit

• If Michael Penix Jr. (ATL) can’t go — Cooper Rush (QB, functional QB1) starts a second consecutive game. Jack Strand (QB, rookie) is the emergency QB2 behind him.
• If Kyler Murray (MIN) can’t go — Carson Wentz (QB2, ACT #11) starts Week 2 at Chicago. J.J. McCarthy (QB3, ACT #9) is the backup and is healthy — he was passed over, which is itself a meaningful signal about where he sits. Wentz’s Week 1 relief line (12-19, 133 yards, 3 TD) came against Green Bay.
• If Sam Darnold (SEA) can’t go — Drew Lock (QB2 on paper, the announced Week 2 starter) is the direct beneficiary — he relieved Darnold in Week 1 and went 16-of-22 for 187 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. Jalen Milroe (QB3) moves up to the emergency/backup role.
• If Skylar Thompson (BAL) can’t go — Tyler Huntley (QB2) and Joe Fagnano (QB3) are the active backups behind Lamar Jackson (QB1). Huntley is the one who matters — he is the only Baltimore backup with meaningful starting experience if Jackson were to miss time.
• If Graham Mertz (HOU) can’t go — Davis Mills is the QB2 behind C.J. Stroud. With Mark Gronowski no longer on the roster, Houston currently carries only two quarterbacks on the active roster, which is a genuine emergency-QB thinness issue if Stroud goes down.
• If Dillon Gabriel (CLE) can’t go — Shedeur Sanders (QB2) is the backup behind Deshaun Watson (QB1), with rookie Taylen Green (QB3) as the third. Sanders is the name that matters — he is the one who would play if Watson went down, and Gabriel’s IR stint is precisely what cleared that path.
• If Tua Tagovailoa (ATL) can’t go — Cooper Rush (QB, functional QB1) makes his second straight start. Jack Strand (QB, rookie) backs up. Michael Penix Jr. is the looming factor once activated.
• If Joe Burrow (CIN) can’t go — Joe Flacco (QB2) would start. Cincinnati was also weighing elevating Josh Johnson (DEV) from the practice squad as the emergency third quarterback for the Houston game, which is itself a tell that the club treated a Burrow absence as a live possibility earlier in the week.
• If Aidan O’Connell (LV) can’t go — Fernando Mendoza (QB2) is already the direct backup to Kirk Cousins and is unaffected by this — he simply remains the No. 2. There is no meaningful downstream consequence to O’Connell’s absence beyond Las Vegas dressing only two quarterbacks.

How to read this report

These are final designations, not midweek practice notes, so they mean what they say. A few timing wrinkles apply this week:

• Buffalo and Detroit have already played. The Bills beat the Lions 41-31 on Thursday night, September 17. For those two clubs Week 2 is settled — what matters is who got hurt in the game and what it means from Week 3 on.
• The Rams host the Giants on Monday night, September 21, so Los Angeles does not file its final game-status report until Saturday. Any Rams player listed here is Friday practice participation with the final designation still to come.
• A player listed with no designation is good news. Several names below appear on an official report with a blank game-status column — that is a club formally declining to tag them, which is stronger than never having been listed at all.

Reserve-list designations — injured reserve, PUP, the Commissioner’s Exempt List, suspension — are roster transactions and are settled regardless of the day. A player placed on in-season injured reserve must miss a minimum of four games.

Ruled out or unavailable (7)

Officially ruled out, or on a reserve list. Plan around these.

Michael Penix Jr. — ATL (Nominal season QB1 on the talent depth chart, but currently QB4 in functional Week 2 order — he has not taken a regular-season snap in 2026)

• Status: OUT — (a) FINAL Friday game-status designation filed by Atlanta on the Sept 18, 2026 official report for the Sunday Sept 20 home game vs the Carolina Panthers. This is the second straight week he has been ruled Out.
• Practice this week: Full (Friday Sept 18). Full week: Full Wed Sept 16 -> Full Thu Sept 17 -> Full Fri Sept 18. Worth flagging plainly: he practiced in full all three days and was still ruled Out, which is the signature of a post-surgical ramp-up where the team is clearing him for practice work but not yet for live game contact.
• Injury: Knee — continuing recovery from reconstructive knee surgery performed at midseason of the 2025 campaign
• When it happened: Original injury and reconstructive surgery occurred during the 2025 season (midseason). This is not a new Week 1 or Week 2 injury; it is the tail of a roughly 10-11 month rehab.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Reconstructive knee surgery (ACL-class) typically costs 9-12 months before full clearance, and teams routinely add 2-6 weeks of non-contact practice ramp before game activation. Players cleared to practice in full frequently sit another one to three games while the club builds contact tolerance and confidence in the joint.
• Expected back to full health: Structurally he is already at or past the standard timeline. Realistic game-ready window is late September to mid-October 2026 — Week 3 (week of Sept 27) at the earliest, Weeks 4-6 (Oct 2026) as the safer bet.
• Next game: WILL NOT PLAY. Officially ruled Out for Sunday Sept 20, 2026 vs the Carolina Panthers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
• Next four weeks: Week 2 (vs Carolina): Out, confirmed. Week 3: live possibility — Atlanta’s head coach tied his Week 3 availability directly to how he progresses through rehab this week, with Green Bay named as that opponent in Sept 18 reporting. Weeks 4-5: if he is not the Week 3 starter he is very likely the starter by then, assuming no setback, because Tua’s oblique and Cooper Rush’s back both point to Atlanta wanting its franchise arm back as soon as it is safe. The three-deep QB mess makes this a genuinely volatile situation week to week.
• Who benefits if he sits: Cooper Rush (QB, functional QB1) starts a second consecutive game. Jack Strand (QB, rookie) is the emergency QB2 behind him.
• Change since Week 1: No change in outcome since Sept 12 — Out both weeks — but a meaningful change in trajectory. On the Week 1 report the distinction was that his absence began as an unofficial coach’s announcement before being formalized. This week he is practicing in FULL all three days rather than being managed, and his Week 3 availability is now being publicly discussed by the head coach. Also note a roster-status correction: nfl.com lists him ACT (active roster), not on any reserve list.

Fantasy takeaway: Not startable in Week 2 in any 12-team full-PPR format. He is, however, a legitimate stash in leagues that roster two QBs or use superflex — full practice participation three days running is the last box before activation, and whoever holds him gets a potential every-week starter for Weeks 3-17. In single-QB 12-team redraft he is a drop unless you have a deep bench. The more important fantasy read is downstream: until Penix is under center, Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts Sr. are all playing with a diminished passing game.

Kyler Murray — MIN (QB1 — nominal starter, but ruled out; Carson Wentz takes the Week 2 start)

• Status: OUT — (a) FINAL Friday game-status designation filed by Minnesota on the Sept 18, 2026 official report for the Sept 20 game at Chicago.
• Practice this week: Limited (Friday Sept 18). Full week: Limited Wed -> Limited Thu -> Limited Fri. He practiced in a limited capacity all three days but was never cleared out of the concussion protocol, which is why a Limited Friday still produced an OUT rather than a Questionable.
• Injury: Concussion (head). In the NFL’s five-step return-to-participation protocol; limited practice corresponds to roughly Step 4, with independent neurological consultant clearance still outstanding.
• When it happened: Sunday Sept 13, 2026, early in Minnesota’s Week 1 win over Green Bay. Murray was hit by Packers safety Javon Bullard after sliding at the end of a scramble. He did not return; Carson Wentz relieved him and finished 12-of-19 for 133 yards and three touchdowns.
• Typical recovery for this injury: NFL concussions average about 8-12 days of lost time. Roughly half of players clear protocol within one game week; the rest need two. Cases that reach limited practice by the Friday of the following week but are not cleared almost always clear during the next week. Prolonged cases (3+ weeks) are the minority and usually involve recurring symptoms with exertion.
• Expected back to full health: Late September 2026 — realistically cleared during the Week 3 practice week (Sept 22-26) and available for the Week 3 game the weekend of Sept 27. Head coach Kevin O’Connell has publicly framed Week 3 as the target.
• Next game: WILL NOT PLAY in Week 2 at Chicago on Sunday Sept 20, 2026. Officially ruled OUT on the Friday Sept 18 final report. Carson Wentz starts, J.J. McCarthy is the backup.
• Next four weeks: Week 2 (at Chicago, Sept 20) is a certain miss. Week 3 is the live target and the likeliest return given he was practicing in a limited capacity all of Week 2 — call it 60-65% to start Week 3. Weeks 4 and 5 project as full go barring a symptom relapse. The one real tail risk: if Wentz plays well again behind this offense, Minnesota has an awkward decision, though O’Connell has given no indication Murray’s job is in question.
• Who benefits if he sits: Carson Wentz (QB2, ACT #11) starts Week 2 at Chicago. J.J. McCarthy (QB3, ACT #9) is the backup and is healthy — he was passed over, which is itself a meaningful signal about where he sits. Wentz’s Week 1 relief line (12-19, 133 yards, 3 TD) came against Green Bay.
• Change since Week 1: NEW to the report. Murray was not on the Sept 12 baseline injury list at all — he was the healthy listed starter. The concussion happened in the Week 1 game itself (Sept 13), after the baseline was compiled.

Fantasy takeaway: Drop Murray from Week 2 lineups entirely; he is a stash, not a start. In 12-team full PPR he is worth holding through the bye-less early weeks if you have a second QB, but if you are streaming, grab a Week 2 replacement and revisit Thursday of Week 3. Wentz is a fringe QB2/streamer at Chicago — three touchdowns in relief flatters him, but the Vikings’ pass-catcher group is thinned by Jauan Jennings being out. The bigger fantasy read: Murray’s absence is mildly negative for Justin Jefferson’s ceiling and mildly positive for a run-heavy Aaron Jones game script.

Sam Darnold — SEA (QB1 when healthy — but he is behind Drew Lock on the functional Week 2 depth chart because Lock is the announced starter)

• Status: OUT — (a) FINAL Friday game-status designation filed by Seattle on the Sept 18, 2026 official report for the Sept 20 game at Arizona. Seattle listed the injury as ‘Glute’ on the Week 2 report after initially calling it a hip.
• Practice this week: Did Not Participate (Friday Sept 18). Full week: DNP Wed Sept 16 -> DNP Thu Sept 17 -> DNP Fri Sept 18. He has not practiced at all since the injury.
• Injury: Glute / deep soft-tissue strain in the hip-buttock region. The club has described it as ‘a very unique soft-tissue injury’; the hip joint itself is uninvolved and imaging ruled out a fracture.
• When it happened: Wednesday, Sept 9, 2026 — sacked on the final play of Seattle’s opening possession of the Week 1 opener against New England (SEA won 13-10). He left after five plays and Drew Lock finished the game.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Gluteal/proximal hamstring-region muscle strains typically cost 1-3 weeks for a Grade 1, 3-6 weeks for a Grade 2, and 8+ weeks (often surgical) for a Grade 3 or an avulsion. The absence of any IR plan plus reporting that he is already moving better points to a low-to-moderate Grade 1-2, with roughly a 2-4 week absence.
• Expected back to full health: Best case Week 3 (late September); the realistic center of the range is Week 4, roughly Oct 4, 2026. ESPN’s reporting floated up to four weeks, which would push him to Week 5 (approx. Oct 11).
• Next game: WILL NOT PLAY. Officially ruled OUT for Sunday, Sept 20, 2026 at Arizona. Drew Lock starts.
• Next four weeks: Week 2 at Arizona: out, guaranteed. Week 3: genuinely in play but not the bet — the club is intentionally keeping him off IR so it can activate him the moment he clears, which cuts both ways. Weeks 4-5: he should be back and starting in this window barring a setback. Expect Lock to make one to three starts total.
• Who benefits if he sits: Drew Lock (QB2 on paper, the announced Week 2 starter) is the direct beneficiary — he relieved Darnold in Week 1 and went 16-of-22 for 187 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. Jalen Milroe (QB3) moves up to the emergency/backup role.
• Change since Week 1: Escalated from an unofficial in-game injury with no filed designation to a FINAL, OFFICIAL OUT tag. New since Sept 12: Seattle relabeled the injury from ‘hip’ to ‘glute’ on the official report, confirmed it will NOT place him on IR, confirmed Drew Lock as the Week 2 starter, and reporting emerged putting the outside timetable at about four weeks.

Fantasy takeaway: Stash-only in 12-team full-PPR; Darnold is a bench QB you hold if you carry two, and an outright drop in single-QB leagues with tight benches. The tradeable asset here is the pass-catchers, not the quarterback: Lock threw efficiently in Week 1 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba still went for 8-122-1 with him under center, so do not discount SEA receivers. Lock himself is a streaming-only QB2 against an Arizona defense that is beatable.

Skylar Thompson — BAL (Was the QB3/QB4 depth arm; currently off the active depth chart while on reserve)

• Status: RESERVE-INJURED — (c) official reserve-list status, status code RES on the nfl.com Ravens roster as of Sept 18, 2026. Placed on IR without a return designation, which means he is out for the entire 2026 season unless released with an injury settlement.
• Practice this week: Not reported — ineligible to practice while on Reserve/Injured. He has no Wed Sept 16, Thu Sept 17 or Fri Sept 18 entry on the participation report and will not have one this season.
• Injury: Undisclosed — the Ravens did not announce the nature of the injury
• When it happened: Approximately Aug 12, 2026. Baltimore placed him on injured reserve in mid-August 2026 during training camp and signed a replacement quarterback as the corresponding move.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Not assessable — the injury was never disclosed. The relevant fact is procedural: an IR placement in August without a designation to return ends a player’s season under the roster rules, so recovery timeline is irrelevant to his 2026 availability.
• Expected back to full health: Not applicable for the 2026 season. Any return to football would be 2027. He is season-ending IR as of the August 2026 placement.
• Next game: OUT for Week 2, Sunday Sept 20, 2026 vs the New Orleans Saints, and out for every remaining game of the 2026 season. He is on season-ending Reserve/Injured.
• Next four weeks: Out for Weeks 2, 3, 4 and 5 and the balance of the season. There is no scenario in which he appears. Baltimore’s quarterback room for this window is Lamar Jackson, Tyler Huntley and Joe Fagnano.
• Who benefits if he sits: Tyler Huntley (QB2) and Joe Fagnano (QB3) are the active backups behind Lamar Jackson (QB1). Huntley is the one who matters — he is the only Baltimore backup with meaningful starting experience if Jackson were to miss time.
• Change since Week 1: No change since Sept 12. Still on season-ending Reserve/Injured, status code RES, with no new information from the club.

Fantasy takeaway: Zero fantasy relevance in any format. Do not roster. The only Baltimore quarterback worth any consideration beyond Lamar Jackson is Tyler Huntley, and only as a deep-league contingency if Jackson were to get hurt.

Graham Mertz — HOU (Not on the active depth chart — season-ending Reserve/Injured. Had been the QB3 competitor.)

• Status: RESERVE-INJURED — (c) reserve/roster-list status. Carried on nfl.com as status code RES with no return designation. Season-ending.
• Practice this week: Not applicable (Friday Sept 18). Full week: not reported Wed/Thu/Fri — he is on season-ending Reserve/Injured and cannot practice.
• Injury: Torn ACL
• When it happened: Suffered in the 2026 offseason/preseason window, before Houston set its initial 53-man roster in late August 2026.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Isolated ACL reconstruction: 9-12 months. For a quarterback the functional return is often slightly faster than for a skill-position runner, but the season is already lost.
• Expected back to full health: Mid-2027. He will not play in 2026.
• Next game: OUT for Week 2 — ineligible. He cannot play Sunday Sept 20 vs the Cincinnati Bengals, or in any 2026 game.
• Next four weeks: Weeks 2-5: ineligible, zero snaps, out for the full 2026 season.
• Who benefits if he sits: Davis Mills is the QB2 behind C.J. Stroud. With Mark Gronowski no longer on the roster, Houston currently carries only two quarterbacks on the active roster, which is a genuine emergency-QB thinness issue if Stroud goes down.
• Change since Week 1: No change to Mertz since Sept 12 — still season-ending RES. Related roster change: QB3 Mark Gronowski is no longer on the roster (he was listed on the practice squad in the Sept 12 baseline and is now off the nfl.com roster entirely).

Fantasy takeaway: Zero fantasy relevance in any format. Not rosterable. The only takeaway that matters to a 12-team manager is the downstream one: Houston’s QB room is now two deep, so a Stroud injury would mean Davis Mills, which would crater the value of every Texans pass catcher.

Matthew Caldwell — LAR (Not on the active depth chart — QB4/camp arm on the reserve list)

• Status: RESERVE-INJURED — (c) reserve/roster-list status. Carried as RES (Reserve/Injured) on the official nfl.com Rams roster as of Sept 18, 2026.
• Practice this week: Not applicable — he is on the reserve list and ineligible to practice with the team. He has not practiced. Practice week of Sept 17-19: no participation of any kind.
• Injury: Undisclosed injury carried from training camp. The Rams have not specified it.
• When it happened: Training camp/preseason, August 2026. Placed on injured reserve around the 53-man roster cutdown.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Not quantifiable without a named injury. A camp IR placement without a return designation generally implies a multi-month timeline.
• Expected back to full health: Unknown and not relevant to 2026 fantasy. Treat him as out for the season absent a club announcement.
• Next game: WILL NOT PLAY and is ineligible. He cannot appear in the Monday, Sept 21, 2026 game vs. the New York Giants.
• Next four weeks: Out for Weeks 2 through 5 and almost certainly the balance of 2026.
• Who benefits if he sits: N/A for fantasy purposes — Matthew Stafford is the starter with Stetson Bennett as QB2 and rookie Ty Simpson as QB3. Caldwell was never in the game-day picture.
• Change since Week 1: No change since Sept 12. Still RES on the official roster.

Fantasy takeaway: Zero fantasy relevance in any format. He is a fourth quarterback who would not have dressed even if healthy. Listed only for reserve-list completeness.

Dillon Gabriel — CLE (Was in the quarterback competition; currently off the active depth chart while on reserve. Cleveland’s active room is Watson, Shedeur Sanders and Taylen Green.)

• Status: RESERVE-INJURED — (c) official reserve-list status, designated to return. Status code RSR on the nfl.com Browns roster as of Sept 18, 2026. The reserve-list status governs his availability regardless of how the back feels.
• Practice this week: Not reported — ineligible to practice until his activation window opens. No Wed Sept 16, Thu Sept 17 or Fri Sept 18 entry exists on the participation report.
• Injury: Back
• When it happened: Late August 2026. Cleveland placed him on injured reserve on approximately Aug 30, 2026 when it set the initial 53-man roster, keeping three quarterbacks active and making rookie Taylen Green the No. 3. The back injury therefore dates to training camp or the preseason.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Back injuries in quarterbacks span an enormous range. A lumbar strain is 2-4 weeks. A disc-related issue with radicular symptoms is 6-12 weeks and sometimes requires surgery, which would push it to 3-6 months. The club’s willingness to accept a mandatory four-game absence rather than carry him active suggests something beyond a simple strain.
• Expected back to full health: Early-to-mid October 2026. He is eligible to return in Week 5 and his 21-day practice window can open before that. A realistic date for full health is Weeks 5-7, roughly the first three weeks of October 2026, though activation depends as much on Cleveland’s quarterback plans as on his back.
• Next game: OUT for Week 2, Sunday Sept 20, 2026 vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is on Reserve/Injured serving the mandatory four-game absence and cannot be activated.
• Next four weeks: Out Weeks 2, 3 and 4 by rule. Week 5 is his first game of eligibility. Even then, Cleveland has Deshaun Watson starting and Shedeur Sanders as QB2, so activation would be a depth decision rather than a path to snaps. Assume no fantasy relevance across Weeks 2-5.
• Who benefits if he sits: Shedeur Sanders (QB2) is the backup behind Deshaun Watson (QB1), with rookie Taylen Green (QB3) as the third. Sanders is the name that matters — he is the one who would play if Watson went down, and Gabriel’s IR stint is precisely what cleared that path.
• Change since Week 1: No change since Sept 12. He remains on Reserve/Injured with a return designation, status code RSR, with no practice window opened and no new club update.

Fantasy takeaway: Not rosterable in 12-team full PPR redraft. He is a third-or-fourth quarterback on IR behind a starter and a higher-profile backup. The Cleveland quarterback to actually have on your watchlist is Shedeur Sanders, who would be the immediate starter if Deshaun Watson misses time.

Doubtful (1)

Doubtful means the club expects him not to play. Treat it as out unless you see a pregame report saying otherwise.

Tua Tagovailoa — ATL (Named 2026 Week 1 starter on Sept 7 before the injury; currently QB3 in functional Week 2 order behind Cooper Rush and Jack Strand)

• Status: DOUBTFUL — (a) FINAL Friday game-status designation filed by Atlanta on the Sept 18, 2026 official report for the Sunday Sept 20 home game vs the Carolina Panthers. Doubtful conventionally translates to roughly a 25 percent chance of playing, and with a three-day DNP behind it the true number here is lower than that.
• Practice this week: DNP (Friday Sept 18). Full week: DNP Wed Sept 16 -> DNP Thu Sept 17 -> DNP Fri Sept 18. He did not practice at all. A player who misses the entire practice week and is not simply ruled Out is being held open as a formality, not as a real game-day option.
• Injury: Oblique strain
• When it happened: Sustained at a Falcons practice on Thursday Sept 10, 2026, during Week 1 preparation. He was ruled Out for the Week 1 opener at Pittsburgh two days later and has not practiced since.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Oblique and abdominal-wall strains are notoriously slow for throwers because the muscle fires on every rotation of the throwing motion. Grade 1 typically costs 2-4 weeks; Grade 2 commonly 4-6 weeks; a Grade 3 tear can end in surgery and 3-plus months. Quarterbacks are the worst-case position for this injury class — re-aggravation rates are high when a passer is rushed back, and clubs usually want pain-free full-velocity throwing for several consecutive days before clearing.
• Expected back to full health: A full practice week without setback is the gating item and he has not produced one yet. Realistic return window is Week 4 to Week 5 (early-to-mid October 2026) if this is a Grade 1-2 strain. Week 3 is possible only if he practices fully early next week.
• Next game: EXPECTED NOT TO PLAY. Doubtful for Sunday Sept 20, 2026 vs the Carolina Panthers. Treat him as out for lineup purposes; a Doubtful QB who has not thrown in practice for eight straight days does not start an NFL game.
• Next four weeks: Week 2 (vs Carolina): out for practical purposes. Week 3: uncertain and competing directly with Michael Penix Jr.’s return for the same job, which is the real complication — Atlanta may simply hand the offense back to Penix rather than rush Tua’s oblique. Weeks 4-5: this is where Tua would realistically be healthy, but by then the starting job may not be his. Track the Falcons’ Wednesday practice report next week; if Tua is DNP again while Penix stays full, Penix is the Week 3 starter.
• Who benefits if he sits: Cooper Rush (QB, functional QB1) makes his second straight start. Jack Strand (QB, rookie) backs up. Michael Penix Jr. is the looming factor once activated.
• Change since Week 1: Status DOWNGRADED in substance even though the tag technically moved from OUT to DOUBTFUL. On the Sept 12 baseline he had a single DNP (Sept 11) logged. He has now missed the entire Week 2 practice week — three consecutive DNPs — which means he has gone a full eight days without throwing. The move from Out to Doubtful looks like an upgrade on paper and is not one.

Fantasy takeaway: Do not start him in Week 2 in any format. In 12-team full-PPR single-QB leagues he is droppable — he is behind an oblique strain AND a returning franchise quarterback, which is a brutal combination for his path back to fantasy relevance. The actionable move is to fade the entire Falcons passing game in Week 2: Drake London stays a volume-based WR2/flex play because target share travels, but Kyle Pitts Sr. and Jahan Dotson are bench pieces with Cooper Rush throwing.

Questionable — game-time calls (2)

The genuine coin flips. Watch the inactives list, which posts about 90 minutes before kickoff, and have a replacement ready.

Joe Burrow — CIN (QB1 — unquestioned franchise starter and the engine of the Bengals’ passing offense)

• Status: QUESTIONABLE — (a) FINAL Friday game-status designation filed by Cincinnati on the Sept 18, 2026 official report for the Sept 20 road game at the Houston Texans. Confirmed on the club’s own Week 2 injury report release.
• Practice this week: Full (Friday Sept 18). Full week: Limited Wed Sept 16 -> Limited Thu Sept 17 -> Full Fri Sept 18. The Friday upgrade to full participation is the key data point and reporters noted he was visibly more active as the week went on.
• Injury: Back tightness / low-grade back strain
• When it happened: Sept 13, 2026 — Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He took a hit from Alex Anzalone while fighting for a first down on a third-and-6 in the first quarter. He finished the game.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Non-radicular back tightness and low-grade lumbar strains in NFL quarterbacks typically resolve in 1-2 weeks and rarely cost a start when the player finished the game in which it happened. The risk profile is flare-up and recurrence rather than a long absence — back issues are notorious for being fine one day and locking up the next, which is exactly why clubs file Questionable rather than clearing the player outright.
• Expected back to full health: Effectively now, Week 2 (Sept 18-20, 2026), given Friday full participation. Expect the designation to disappear entirely by Week 3 barring a re-aggravation in the Houston game.
• Next game: PLAYING in Week 2, Sunday Sept 20, 2026 at the Houston Texans. Friday full participation, head coach Zac Taylor saying he ‘practiced in full today’ and ‘feels good,’ and Burrow himself saying ‘If I’m not getting surgery, I’ll be out there’ together make this a near-certain start. The Questionable tag reflects the unpredictability of back tightness, not genuine doubt.
• Next four weeks: Expect him to start Weeks 2 through 5. Week 2 at Houston is the only game with a live availability question and he should clear it. The monitoring item across Weeks 3-5 is whether the back flares up behind an offensive line that let him get hit in Week 1 — if it recurs, the designation returns and his mobility, never his strength, is the first thing to suffer.
• Who benefits if he sits: Joe Flacco (QB2) would start. Cincinnati was also weighing elevating Josh Johnson (DEV) from the practice squad as the emergency third quarterback for the Houston game, which is itself a tell that the club treated a Burrow absence as a live possibility earlier in the week.
• Change since Week 1: NEW TO THIS REPORT. He was not on the Sept 12 baseline injury list at all. The back issue originated in the Week 1 game itself and is entirely new information as of Sept 16, 2026.

Fantasy takeaway: Start him with confidence as a top-five QB1 in 12-team full PPR. Friday full participation plus the coach’s comments is the green light. Have a streamer on your bench as an inactives-report contingency since kickoff is the 1 pm ET window, but do not trade him or bench him over this. If he somehow sits, Joe Flacco is a matchup-dependent QB2 and Ja’Marr Chase’s ceiling drops meaningfully.

Aidan O’Connell — LV (QB3 — third quarterback behind Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza; emergency-arm role only)

• Status: QUESTIONABLE — (a) FINAL Friday game-status designation filed by Las Vegas on the Sept 18, 2026 official report for the Sunday Sept 20 game at the Los Angeles Chargers. Filed under ‘Not injury related — personal matter.’
• Practice this week: Did Not Participate (Friday Sept 18). Full week: the club’s Friday filing lists him as a DNP under the not-injury-related/personal designation. Head coach Klint Kubiak said Friday that O’Connell would not be traveling with the team to Los Angeles, which in practice means he will not play regardless of the Questionable tag.
• Injury: None — this is expressly NOT an injury. The Raiders filed it as ‘Not injury related – personal matter,’ which is the standard league-report mechanism for a personal or family situation. No medical issue is involved.
• When it happened: Not applicable — there is no injury. The personal matter surfaced during the Week 2 practice week of Sept 16-18, 2026, and was formalized on the Friday Sept 18 report.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Not applicable — no injury to recover from. Personal-matter absences are open-ended by nature and resolve on the player’s own timeline; most are a matter of days.
• Expected back to full health: He is already healthy — there is no health issue. Availability is a personal-circumstances question, and a return for Week 3 (Sept 27) would be the normal expectation for a short personal absence.
• Next game: WILL NOT PLAY, Week 2, Sunday Sept 20 at the Los Angeles Chargers (SoFi Stadium, 1:05 p.m. PT). Kubiak confirmed Friday he is not traveling with the team, which makes the Questionable tag academic.
• Next four weeks: Week 2 (at LAC, Sept 20): not traveling, will not play. Weeks 3-5: expected back once the personal matter resolves, returning to the QB3 role behind Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza. He has no realistic path to snaps unless both players ahead of him are unavailable.
• Who benefits if he sits: Fernando Mendoza (QB2) is already the direct backup to Kirk Cousins and is unaffected by this — he simply remains the No. 2. There is no meaningful downstream consequence to O’Connell’s absence beyond Las Vegas dressing only two quarterbacks.
• Change since Week 1: NEW TO THE REPORT. O’Connell carried no designation of any kind on the Raiders’ final Week 1 injury report filed Friday Sept 11, 2026 and was not on the Sept 12 baseline. The personal-matter filing first appeared on the Week 2 report. Roster status unchanged at ACT, depth-chart position unchanged at QB3.

Fantasy takeaway: Zero fantasy impact in a 12-team full-PPR league. He is not rosterable and his absence does not change Kirk Cousins’ outlook or anyone else’s. The only reason to note it is that it is a genuine final Friday designation on the official Raiders report and belongs in a complete accounting of the division. Kirk Cousins remains the starter and is unaffected.

Cleared — listed this week but carrying no designation (9)

The good news. Every player here carried an injury or a listing at some point this week and finished it without a designation.

Cooper Rush — ATL (Functional QB1 for Week 2 by default — the two passers ahead of him on the talent chart are Out and Doubtful)

• Status: NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION — (b) he appears on Atlanta’s Week 2 practice report with a back issue but carries a BLANK Game Status column on the final Friday Sept 18, 2026 report. Stating this plainly: blank means no designation and he is expected to play and start.
• Practice this week: Full (Friday Sept 18). Full week: not listed Wed Sept 16 -> Full Thu Sept 17 -> Full Fri Sept 18. He was added to the report mid-week and practiced in full on both days he appeared.
• Injury: Back
• When it happened: Surfaced on Atlanta’s Thursday Sept 17, 2026 practice report. Most plausibly a residual from his Week 1 start at Pittsburgh on Sunday Sept 13, 2026, though the club has not specified a mechanism. He was described by the head coach as ‘doing better.’
• Typical recovery for this injury: Non-specific back soreness or a low-grade lumbar strain in a quarterback is usually a 0-1 game issue when the player is practicing in full. Two consecutive full practices is the standard marker for a back issue that will not affect availability. Only a disc-related or nerve-involvement diagnosis would change the calculus, and nothing reported suggests that.
• Expected back to full health: Effectively healthy now. He is expected to be at full function for the Sept 20 start, Week 2.
• Next game: WILL PLAY AND START. No designation for Sunday Sept 20, 2026 vs the Carolina Panthers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
• Next four weeks: Week 2 (vs Carolina): starts. Week 3: starts only if Penix is not activated — his hold on the job is entirely a function of the two injured passers above him. Weeks 4-5: most likely back to a backup role. The back issue itself should not cost him any time; the depth chart will.
• Who benefits if he sits: Jack Strand (QB2, rookie) would make an emergency start. That is a genuinely alarming scenario for Atlanta and one worth monitoring on game day given Rush’s back and the absence of any other healthy experienced option.
• Change since Week 1: NEW to this report. He did not appear on Atlanta’s Sept 12 final Week 1 injury report at all. The back issue is a fresh mid-week addition on Sept 17, 2026, and has not affected his practice participation.

Fantasy takeaway: Not a startable fantasy QB in 12-team full-PPR leagues — Rush is a low-volume, low-aDOT caretaker whose ceiling is roughly 14 fantasy points. His real fantasy relevance is as a suppressant: his limited arm strength compresses the Falcons’ passing game, which caps Drake London’s ceiling and pushes Kyle Pitts Sr. toward TE2 territory. The one beneficiary is Bijan Robinson, whose usage in both phases should stay elite because Atlanta has to lean on him.

Jared Goff — DET (QB1 — every-down starter)

• Status: NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION — (a) Detroit’s FINAL Week 2 official report, filed Sept 16, 2026 for the Thursday Sept 17 game at Buffalo, carried no entry for Goff. He played the full game.
• Practice this week: Full — not listed on any day of Detroit’s Week 2 participation report. Detroit practiced on a short Thursday-game week (Mon-Wed, Sept 14-16) and Goff was unrestricted throughout.
• Injury: None active.
• When it happened: N/A — no injury to date in 2026. He has taken every meaningful snap through two games.
• Typical recovery for this injury: N/A — healthy, no injury to recover from.
• Expected back to full health: Currently at full health as of Sept 18, 2026.
• Next game: ALREADY PLAYED Week 2 — he started and played the full game at Buffalo on Thursday Sept 17, 2026, going 26-of-38 for 327 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in a 41-31 loss. He exited healthy with no post-game injury reporting.
• Next four weeks: Healthy through Weeks 2 (played), 3, 4 and 5. Detroit’s Thursday game means the Lions now get a long break before Week 3, which is a net positive for the whole roster’s health. Goff’s four-touchdown output against a strong Buffalo team in a shootout loss is the relevant signal — the Lions were throwing to keep pace, and that game script is repeatable.
• Who benefits if he sits: Joshua Dobbs (QB2, ACT #11) is the backup. Luke Altmyer (DEV, #15) is the practice-squad third.
• Change since Week 1: NEW to the report as a confirmed-healthy entry. He was not on the Sept 12 baseline injury list. He is included because his team’s Week 2 game has already been played and confirming he exited it healthy is the actionable fact for a fantasy manager setting Week 3 lineups.

Fantasy takeaway: Start him without hesitation in 12-team full PPR going forward. The Week 2 line — 327 yards, 4 TDs — is already banked, and the takeaway for Weeks 3-5 is that Detroit’s offense still functions at a high level and will throw when trailing. Tracked here specifically to confirm he came through the Thursday game healthy, which he did. He is a top-tier QB1 stream or a set-and-forget starter.

Daniel Jones — IND (QB1 — unquestioned starter; Ourlads lists him first ahead of Anthony Richardson Sr.)

• Status: RESOLVED — (a) final Friday outcome: fully cleared, no injury and no game-status tag on Indianapolis’ official Sept 18, 2026 report for the Sept 20 game at Kansas City. He does not appear on the report at all.
• Practice this week: Full (Friday Sept 18). Full week: Full Wed Sept 16 -> Full Thu Sept 17 -> Full Fri Sept 18. Not listed on the Colts’ Week 2 practice report at any point.
• Injury: None active — the torn Achilles tendon is fully recovered and he is off the injury report.
• When it happened: Not applicable to 2026. The Achilles tear predates the 2026 season; head coach Shane Steichen addressed his return from injury on Sept 7, 2026, and he started and played Week 1 vs Baltimore without restriction.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Not applicable — no active injury. For reference, Achilles tendon repair typically costs 9-12 months, and second-year post-repair performance (where Jones now is) generally returns to baseline.
• Expected back to full health: Already fully healthy as of Friday Sept 18, 2026 (Week 2). He has been cleared since training camp.
• Next game: PLAYING, unrestricted. He starts Sunday Sept 20 at the Kansas City Chiefs (8:20 PM ET, Arrowhead Stadium).
• Next four weeks: Weeks 2-5: full availability with no health flag. Week 2 at Kansas City at night is his hardest matchup of the stretch. His fantasy value rests on rushing volume rather than passing efficiency.
• Who benefits if he sits: Anthony Richardson Sr. (QB2, managing a mild groin but untagged) would take over, with Riley Leonard as QB3. A Jones injury would meaningfully change the Colts’ offensive profile and the value of every Indianapolis pass catcher.
• Change since Week 1: No change since Sept 12 — he was already logged as fully cleared on the baseline and remains entirely off the injury report. Reported here as cleared rather than dropped silently, per the tracking rule.

Fantasy takeaway: Streaming QB2 only in 12-team full PPR — do not start him at Kansas City this week if you have any alternative. His health is a non-issue; the matchup is the issue. He is not a top-12 weekly play.

Patrick Mahomes — KC (QB1 — unquestioned starter and every-snap player)

• Status: NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION — (b) he appears on Kansas City’s Week 2 practice report with a knee listing but received NO final game-status tag on the Friday Sept 18, 2026 report for the Sunday Sept 20 game vs. the Indianapolis Colts. Cleared without restriction.
• Practice this week: Full (Friday Sept 18). Full week: Full Wed Sept 16 -> Full Thu Sept 17 -> Full Fri Sept 18. Three full participations and no Friday tag is as clean as an NFL injury-report entry gets.
• Injury: Left knee — maintenance listing tied to the torn ACL and LCL he suffered during the 2025 season and had surgically repaired. This is a rehab/monitoring designation, not a new or active injury.
• When it happened: The underlying injury dates to the 2025 season, with surgical repair following. The knee has carried a report listing through the 2026 preseason and into the regular season purely as a treatment notation; he has practiced fully throughout and played Week 1.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Combined ACL and LCL reconstruction typically runs 9-12 months to return to play, with the final 10-15 percent of explosive-movement confidence often taking into the following season. Mahomes is comfortably past that window — he practiced fully all three days of Week 1 prep, played the Monday Sept 14 win over Denver, and has practiced fully all three days of Week 2 prep.
• Expected back to full health: Already at full health as of Friday Sept 18, 2026 (Week 2). The listing should disappear from the report as the season progresses; there is no pending recovery milestone.
• Next game: WILL PLAY, Week 2, Sunday Sept 20 vs. the Indianapolis Colts at Arrowhead Stadium (Sunday Night Football). No designation, no snap restriction, no availability risk.
• Next four weeks: Weeks 2-5: every-week QB1 with no injury-related risk. The only thing to monitor across this stretch is whether Kansas City manages his designed-run volume to protect the knee, which would shave a couple of points off his rushing floor without touching his passing ceiling. He led the Chiefs past Denver on Monday night in Week 1 and the offense is functioning.
• Who benefits if he sits: Justin Fields (QB2) would start, and he is a genuinely startable streaming QB1 in his own right because of the rushing floor — a rare backup situation where the handcuff has standalone value. Garrett Nussmeier (QB3) is the emergency arm.
• Change since Week 1: IMPROVED CLARITY vs. the Sept 12 baseline. Last week his entry read NO FINAL TAG YET with the final status pending because Kansas City played Monday night. This week the full cycle is complete: three full practices and confirmed no final designation on the Sept 18 report. Practically identical health status, but now fully confirmed rather than pending. Depth chart and ACT roster status unchanged.

Fantasy takeaway: Start him every week in 12-team full-PPR with zero hesitation. The knee listing is noise and should not affect your lineup decisions or your trade valuations. If a leaguemate is discounting Mahomes over the knee narrative, buy. Separately, Justin Fields is the single most valuable backup QB in fantasy to handcuff if you have a deep bench and roster Mahomes — but do not spend a starting-caliber roster spot on him in a standard 12-teamer.

Malik Willis — MIA (QB1 — Miami’s starting quarterback and the unquestioned starter in Jeff Hafley’s first season)

• Status: NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION — (a) he appears on Miami’s Week 2 practice reports as a participation entry only, with a toe listing, and Miami assigned him NO Out/Doubtful/Questionable tag on the FINAL Friday Sept 18, 2026 report for the Sunday Sept 20 game at San Francisco. He is cleared to play without restriction.
• Practice this week: Full (Friday Sept 18). Full week: Full Wed Sept 16 -> Full Thu Sept 17 -> Full Fri Sept 18. He was a full participant on every single practice day despite the listing, which is the textbook signature of a maintenance/monitoring entry rather than a genuine availability risk.
• Injury: Toe (Miami has not specified which foot, which toe, or a grade). Given full participation throughout, this reads as turf-toe-adjacent soreness or a minor contusion rather than a structural injury.
• When it happened: Surfaced on Miami’s FIRST Week 2 injury report, Wednesday Sept 16, 2026. Most consistent with the Week 1 loss at Las Vegas on Sunday Sept 13, 2026 (Raiders 27, Dolphins 13), a game in which Willis was sacked repeatedly and has publicly acknowledged he must cut down the sacks. Miami has not tied it to a specific snap.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Toe injuries for a quarterback span a wide range. Simple soreness or a contusion is a few days to a week with no games missed. True turf toe (grade I metatarsophalangeal sprain) is 1-2 weeks; grade II is 2-4 weeks; grade III can be 6-10 weeks or surgical. A full-participation Wednesday, Thursday AND Friday with no game-status tag is inconsistent with anything above a grade I, and for a mobile quarterback the club would not risk full reps on a meaningful toe issue.
• Expected back to full health: Effectively already there — Friday Sept 18, 2026. If anything lingers it should be fully gone by Week 3, Sunday Sept 27, 2026 vs Kansas City.
• Next game: WILL PLAY. He starts for Miami in Week 2, Sunday Sept 20, 2026 at the San Francisco 49ers, 4:25 PM ET on FOX. No designation, full practice participation all week, and he does not appear among Miami’s final Out/Questionable group (Ronnie Harrison OUT hamstring, Chop Robinson OUT concussion, Tucker Addington QUESTIONABLE shoulder).
• Next four weeks: Weeks 2-5. Week 2 (Sept 20 at San Francisco) — starts, tough matchup against a strong 49ers front given his sack problem. Week 3 (Sept 27 vs Kansas City) — starts, another difficult defensive matchup. Week 4 (Oct 4 at Minnesota) — starts, again a pressure-heavy opponent. Week 5 (Oct 11 vs Cincinnati) — starts, and the clear best matchup of the stretch; Miami then hits its Week 6 bye. The toe should be a non-factor across the entire window. The real risk to his availability is not the toe but the sack volume behind a struggling offensive line.
• Who benefits if he sits: Kyle McCord (ACT) is QB2 and would take over immediately. Brady Cook (ACT) is QB3. Miami carries three quarterbacks on the active roster, so there is a genuine ladder here, but McCord is the direct beneficiary.
• Change since Week 1: NEW to this report. Willis carried no designation and no injury listing on the Sept 12 baseline. The toe listing first appeared on Miami’s Wednesday Sept 16, 2026 report. Status is a new listing, but with full participation on all three days the practical impact is nil.

Fantasy takeaway: The toe is noise, not signal — full participation all three days means you do not need a contingency. That said, in a 12-team full-PPR redraft he is a streaming-only QB2 at best: Week 2 at San Francisco, Week 3 vs Kansas City and Week 4 at Minnesota is a brutal three-game defensive gauntlet on an 0-1 team whose head coach just said ‘We have to run the football.’ Do not start him against the 49ers. The only week in this window worth streaming him is Week 5 vs Cincinnati.

Anthony Richardson Sr. — IND (QB2 — backup behind Daniel Jones; Ourlads lists him second in the QB room)

• Status: NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION — (a) final Friday game-status outcome: he appeared on the official Sept 18, 2026 report with a groin injury but Indianapolis filed NO game-status tag for the Sept 20 game at Kansas City. Available as the backup.
• Practice this week: Full (Friday Sept 18). Full week: DNP Wed Sept 16 -> Full Thu Sept 17 -> Full Fri Sept 18. He missed only the Wednesday session and was a full participant the final two days.
• Injury: Groin strain
• When it happened: Surfaced on the Wednesday Sept 16, 2026 practice report. He did not take meaningful snaps in Week 1 vs Baltimore behind Daniel Jones, so this is a practice-week issue rather than a game injury.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Groin/adductor strain: Grade 1 is 1-2 weeks, Grade 2 is 3-6 weeks, Grade 3 is 8+ weeks. Returning to full practice within 48 hours of a DNP places this firmly at the mild Grade 1 end, essentially a tweak.
• Expected back to full health: Effectively already there — two consecutive full practices as of Friday Sept 18, 2026 (Week 2). Expect him off the report by Week 3 (late September 2026).
• Next game: AVAILABLE as QB2. He will dress Sunday Sept 20 at the Kansas City Chiefs (8:20 PM ET, Arrowhead Stadium) with no game-status tag, but he is not expected to play behind a healthy Daniel Jones.
• Next four weeks: Weeks 2-5: no expected snaps behind Daniel Jones, who is fully healthy and off the injury report. Richardson’s only route to fantasy relevance in this window is a Jones injury or a benching, neither of which is currently indicated.
• Who benefits if he sits: Riley Leonard is QB3 and would become the emergency backup. Daniel Jones remains the unquestioned starter.
• Change since Week 1: NEW to this report. Richardson was not on the Sept 12 baseline injury list. The groin appeared on the Wednesday Sept 16 report; he practiced fully Thursday and Friday and drew no game-status designation.

Fantasy takeaway: Not rosterable in 12-team full PPR redraft. He is a healthy-ish backup with no path to snaps. The groin is not the story — the depth chart is. Only add him if Daniel Jones goes down, at which point his rushing upside would make him a streaming QB1 immediately.

Mitchell Trubisky — TEN (QB2 — backup behind Cam Ward)

• Status: RESOLVED — (a) final Friday outcome: fully cleared, no injury and no game-status tag on Tennessee’s official Sept 18, 2026 report for the Sept 20 game vs Philadelphia. He does not appear on the Week 2 report.
• Practice this week: Full (Friday Sept 18). Full week: Full Wed Sept 16 -> Full Thu Sept 17 -> Full Fri Sept 18. Not listed on the Titans’ Week 2 injury report at any point.
• Injury: None active — the prior issue carried on the Sept 12 baseline is fully resolved.
• When it happened: Not applicable. The prior issue cleared before the Sept 13 Week 1 loss to the New York Jets.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Not applicable — no active injury.
• Expected back to full health: Already fully healthy as of Friday Sept 18, 2026 (Week 2), and has been since before Week 1.
• Next game: AVAILABLE as QB2. He will dress Sunday Sept 20 vs the Philadelphia Eagles (1:00 PM ET, Nissan Stadium) but is not expected to play behind a healthy Cam Ward.
• Next four weeks: Weeks 2-5: no expected snaps behind Cam Ward. The one scenario worth tracking is that Ward was under heavy pressure in Week 1 and Tennessee’s offensive line is a genuine problem — that raises the background probability of an in-game injury over this stretch, particularly against Philadelphia’s pass rush in Week 2.
• Who benefits if he sits: Hendon Hooker is on the practice squad (DEV) as the QB3 and would need to be elevated. Tennessee carries only two quarterbacks on the active roster.
• Change since Week 1: No change since Sept 12 — he was already logged as resolved on the baseline and remains off the injury report entirely. Reported here as cleared rather than dropped silently, per the tracking rule.

Fantasy takeaway: Not rosterable in 12-team full PPR. Zero standalone value. The only relevance is negative: if Cam Ward goes down behind this offensive line, every Titans pass catcher’s value drops further, and it is already low.

Marcus Mariota — WAS (QB2 — the primary backup behind Jayden Daniels.)

• Status: RESOLVED — (a) he is entirely absent from Washington’s FINAL Friday Sept 18, 2026 official report for the Sept 20 game vs Dallas. Last week he appeared on the Week 1 report with a knee listing and a blank Game Status; that entry is gone and he carries no designation of any kind.
• Practice this week: Not on the injury report this week, so no participation level is filed. Full participation Wed Sept 16, Thu Sept 17 and Fri Sept 18, matching the three full practices he logged before Week 1.
• Injury: Knee — now resolved. It never cost him a practice rep even when listed.
• When it happened: Listed during the Week 1 practice week (Sept 9-11, 2026) with three full participations throughout, indicating minor maintenance. The item has cleared and he is off the report for Week 2.
• Typical recovery for this injury: A knee listing that never reduces practice participation is maintenance-level — typically a bruise, minor effusion or general soreness that resolves in under two weeks. Anything ligamentous (MCL 2-6 weeks, ACL 9-12 months, meniscus 4 weeks to 4 months) would have produced at least one limited or missed session, and none occurred.
• Expected back to full health: Already at full health as of Friday Sept 18, 2026 (Week 2). The item is closed.
• Next game: ACTIVE as the backup quarterback for Week 2, Sunday Sept 20, 2026 vs the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium (4:25 p.m. ET). He is not expected to play behind a healthy Jayden Daniels.
• Next four weeks: Available as QB2 Weeks 2 (vs DAL), 3, 4 and 5 with no health concern. He only sees the field if Jayden Daniels is hurt or Washington is out of a game.
• Who benefits if he sits: Athan Kaliakmanis (QB3) is the next man up on the active roster, with Sam Hartman on the practice squad.
• Change since Week 1: CHANGED — now CLEARED. On Sept 12 he was on the Week 1 report with a knee listing and a blank Game Status despite three full practices. He is off the Week 2 report entirely.

Fantasy takeaway: Not rosterable in a 12-team full-PPR league; backup quarterbacks carry no standalone value. Reporting him as CLEARED rather than dropping him silently. The only reason to care: if Jayden Daniels ever went down, Mariota is a healthy, experienced starter-caliber backup, which protects the fantasy value of Terry McLaurin, Stefon Diggs and the Washington skill group more than a raw rookie backup would.

Tyson Bagent — CHI (QB3 — third quarterback behind Caleb Williams and Case Keenum per Ourlads)

• Status: RESOLVED — (a) confirmed by the absence of any entry on Chicago’s FINAL Friday Sept 18, 2026 official report for the Sept 20 game vs Minnesota. He carries NO GAME-STATUS DESIGNATION because he is no longer on the injury report at all.
• Practice this week: Full — he is not listed on any day of the Week 2 participation report. Full week: not listed Wed, not listed Thu, not listed Fri, which by rule means unrestricted full participation. This is a clean reversal from Week 1, when he was DNP on all three days.
• Injury: Back — now resolved. The club never specified the nature of the back issue beyond the one-word designation.
• When it happened: Sustained during the Week 1 practice week, early September 2026. He was DNP Wed/Thu/Fri and carried a QUESTIONABLE tag into Week 1 on the Sept 11 final report.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Non-specific back strains and spasms in NFL quarterbacks typically resolve in 1-2 weeks with rest. The pattern here — three full DNP days followed by a clean report the next week — is consistent with a muscular spasm or strain rather than a disc or structural issue, which would have produced a longer and more visible absence.
• Expected back to full health: Already achieved, as of the Week 2 practice week beginning Sept 16, 2026. Fully cleared with no restriction.
• Next game: AVAILABLE in Week 2 vs Minnesota on Sunday Sept 20, 2026, with no designation. Whether he is active is a coaching decision about the QB3 spot, not a health question — Case Keenum sits ahead of him on the depth chart.
• Next four weeks: Healthy and available for Weeks 2 through 5. His path to snaps is entirely dependent on an injury to Caleb Williams; barring that, he is the emergency third quarterback and will not see meaningful playing time.
• Who benefits if he sits: N/A — he is cleared. He is himself a backup; Case Keenum (QB2, ACT #11) sits between him and Caleb Williams on the depth chart.
• Change since Week 1: IMPROVED. On the Sept 12 baseline he was QUESTIONABLE with a back injury and DNP on all three practice days. He is now completely off the Week 2 injury report — fully cleared with no designation.

Fantasy takeaway: No fantasy relevance in a 12-team full PPR redraft league — he is a QB3 who is now behind Case Keenum on the depth chart. Tracked only so his clearance is recorded and because he is the second body behind Caleb Williams. Not rosterable in any standard format.

Rosters and depth charts for all 32 teams were verified against official league roster pages before this report was compiled, and every player listed was confirmed to be on the roster shown. Designations come from the final official club and league injury reports filed Friday, September 18, 2026. Recovery timelines describe how long a class of injury typically sidelines an NFL player and are not a prediction for any individual.

NFL Week 2 Fantasy Football Injury Report Friday QB first appeared on Game On Media.

Quarterback stays the quietest position on the Week 1 board, and the Wednesday reports mostly confirmed good news: the injuries that matter are backups, and the one genuine question — Patrick Mahomes — is trending the right way without a formal answer yet.

What changed since the weekend

Clubs filed their first official injury reports of the season on Wednesday, which replaces the guesswork of the preseason with real practice participation. Across the 9 quarterbacks on this board: 2 are new to the report, 2 improved, 1 got worse, and 2 cleared entirely and are no longer listed by their teams.

How to read this report

Week 1 spans six days, so teams are at different points in their reporting week and their designations do not mean the same thing:

• Seattle–New England played Wednesday, September 9. Those teams have final designations and published inactives.
• San Francisco–LA Rams play Thursday, September 10 in Melbourne — final or near-final.
• Everyone else plays Sunday, September 13 or Monday, September 14. Their Wednesday filing is practice participation only. Final Out/Doubtful/Questionable tags land Friday, September 11. A Wednesday “Full” is a strong signal, not a guarantee.

Anything on the reserve list — IR, PUP, Commissioner’s Exempt List — is an official roster transaction and is settled regardless of the day.

Ruled out or unavailable (4)

Official reserve-list designations and confirmed absences. Plan around these.

Michael Penix Jr. — ATL (No longer the starter. Tua Tagovailoa was named Week 1 QB1 on Sept 7 and Cooper Rush is the designated backup; Penix is on the 53-man roster but has been announced as INACTIVE for Week 1.)

• Wednesday practice: Full
• Official status: (b) Official practice-report entry without a final game status – he appears on Atlanta’s official Wednesday Week 1 report with a knee designation. Final Out/Doubtful/Questionable tags are not due until Friday, Sept 11. Separately, and this is NOT an injury designation, HC Kevin Stefanski has already publicly announced Penix will be inactive Sunday – a readiness/coaching decision.
• Injury: Left knee – partially torn ACL that ended his 2025 season and required surgery. It is the third ACL tear of his career.
• When it happened: Original injury and season-ending surgery during the 2025 season; he was held out of full-team drills until after the second 2026 preseason game and did not play in the third.
• Typical recovery for this injury: ACL reconstruction typically sidelines an NFL player 9-12 months, and a third tear on the same limb sits at the long end – 12+ months with a slower return to full explosiveness and cutting confidence.
• Expected back to full health: Physically cleared and practicing in full now; the club is treating true game readiness as still weeks away. Realistically mid-season 2026 before he is trusted with a start.
• Week 1: Announced INACTIVE for Sunday, Sept 13 at Pittsburgh. He will not play regardless of what Friday’s official designation says.
• Weeks 1-4: Wk1 at PIT inactive. Wk2 vs CAR, Wk3 at GB (Thu, Sept 24), Wk4 at NO (Mon, Oct 5) – he is behind both Tua and Cooper Rush, so he only plays on injury or a Tua benching. Treat him as unrosterable in redraft through at least Week 4.
• Who benefits if he sits: N/A – he is the one out. Tua Tagovailoa starts, Cooper Rush is the active backup.
• Change since the weekend: DOWNGRADED – on Sept 6 he was a co-QB1 in an open competition; he has now lost the job outright and been declared inactive for the opener.

Fantasy takeaway: Drop him in all redraft formats – he is inactive Week 1 and third on the depth chart, and only a Tua injury or collapse puts him back in play.

Graham Mertz — HOU (Was the QB3. Currently on season-ending reserve; the practice-squad QB spot behind Stroud and Mills is now Mark Gronowski, signed Sept 8.)

• Wednesday practice: not applicable — on season-ending IR
• Official status: (a-equivalent) OFFICIAL ROSTER DESIGNATION: Reserve/Injured (IR) — out for the 2026 season. Confirmed by his ‘RES’ status code on the official nfl.com Texans roster.
• Injury: Torn ACL (knee)
• When it happened: Suffered in the Texans’ preseason opener, mid-August 2026 (reported Aug 14-17, 2026).
• Typical recovery for this injury: ACL reconstruction: 9-12 months to return to play.
• Expected back to full health: Mid-to-late 2027. Note he also had his 2023 college season shortened by a broken collarbone.
• Week 1: OUT — Week 1 and all of 2026.
• Weeks 1-4: Out for the season.
• Who benefits if he sits: Davis Mills is the QB2 behind C.J. Stroud; Mark Gronowski is the practice-squad emergency arm.
• Change since the weekend: unchanged — same official season-ending IR designation as the Sept 6 report.

Fantasy takeaway: No fantasy relevance in any format — the only actionable note is that Davis Mills is the sole insurance policy behind C.J. Stroud, which matters if you roster Texans pass-catchers.

Dillon Gabriel — CLE (QB4 (on reserve; not on the active depth chart))

• Wednesday practice: not applicable – ineligible to practice until his 21-day window opens
• Official status: (a) FINAL OFFICIAL ROSTER-STATUS DESIGNATION: Reserve/Injured, designated to return (nfl.com roster code RSR). Filed Aug 30, 2026 when Cleveland set its 53. Rules him out through Week 4.
• Injury: Back
• When it happened: August 2026, during the preseason; placed on IR Aug 30, 2026.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Back injuries in NFL quarterbacks span a wide range – a lumbar strain is 2-4 weeks, a disc-related issue is 6-12 weeks, and a transverse process fracture is 4-8 weeks. The IR-return designation guarantees a minimum four-game absence. Cleveland’s willingness to use the return designation rather than season-ending IR points to the shorter end.
• Expected back to full health: Practice-eligible ahead of Week 5 (early-to-mid October 2026). Cleveland effectively used the move to keep four quarterbacks, so there is no urgency to activate him.
• Week 1: OUT – ineligible for Week 1 at Jacksonville, Sunday, Sept 13, 2026, 1:00 p.m. ET.
• Weeks 1-4: Weeks 1-4: OUT for all four, by rule.
• Who benefits if he sits: Deshaun Watson is QB1, Shedeur Sanders QB2, Taylen Green QB3 – Gabriel is fourth in line even when healthy.
• Change since the weekend: unchanged

Fantasy takeaway: No standard-league relevance; only a deep-dynasty stash, and even then he is behind three healthy quarterbacks.

Skylar Thompson — BAL (Not on the active depth chart – Reserve/Injured)

• Wednesday practice: not applicable – on injured reserve
• Official status: (a) FINAL OFFICIAL ROSTER-STATUS DESIGNATION: Reserve/Injured (nfl.com roster code RES), placed in August 2026. Baltimore signed QB Austin Reed at the time as the corresponding move, though Reed does not appear on the current active roster – Joe Fagnano holds the QB3 spot.
• Injury: Undisclosed; sustained during the 2026 preseason.
• When it happened: August 2026 (IR placement reported Aug 12-24, 2026 across outlets).
• Typical recovery for this injury: Not estimable without a disclosed injury. Season-opening Reserve/Injured without a return designation typically ends the season.
• Expected back to full health: Unknown – no public timeline.
• Week 1: OUT – not on the active roster for Week 1 at Indianapolis, Sunday, Sept 13, 2026, 1:00 p.m. ET.
• Weeks 1-4: Weeks 1-4: OUT.
• Who benefits if he sits: Not applicable – Lamar Jackson is QB1, Tyler Huntley QB2, Joe Fagnano QB3.
• Change since the weekend: NEW

Fantasy takeaway: Zero fantasy relevance; included only because the Sept 6 baseline omitted his official reserve status.

Did not practice Wednesday (1)

A Wednesday DNP four days out is the clearest warning sign on the report. Have a replacement ready and check Friday.

Tyson Bagent — CHI (QB2 – the backup to Caleb Williams on both nfl.com (ACT, No. 17) and the Ourlads 09/08 chart, ahead of Case Keenum.)

• Wednesday practice: DNP (estimated – no practice was held Wednesday).
• Official status: (b) OFFICIAL PRACTICE-REPORT ENTRY WITHOUT FINAL STATUS – listed as DID NOT PARTICIPATE on Chicago’s Wednesday Sept 9, 2026 Week 1 injury report (nfl.com league report, confirmed by Sept 9 Chicago Sun-Times and SI Bear Digest). No Out/Doubtful/Questionable tag exists yet; Chicago plays SUNDAY, so the final status comes FRIDAY, SEPT. 11. The Bears held no practice Wednesday, so this is an estimated report – the club’s judgment is that he would have missed the session entirely.
• Injury: Back. Reporting is explicit that this is a NEW and distinct problem from the hamstring issue he dealt with earlier. His status for Sunday remains uncertain; if he cannot go, Case Keenum assumes QB2 duties.
• When it happened: First appeared on the official report Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026; the onset date has not been disclosed.
• Typical recovery for this injury: Non-specific back strain in an NFL player: 1-3 weeks typically, and often just days for a mild spasm. A disc-related back issue is a different class entirely at 4-8 weeks or more. No pathology has been disclosed, so the wide range stands.
• Expected back to full health: Unclear pending Thursday and Friday participation. A missed Wednesday alone is not diagnostic; if he is still DNP on Thursday, a multi-week absence becomes likely.
• Week 1: UNCERTAIN for Sunday, Sept. 13 at Carolina – DNP on the first report of the week. The Friday, Sept. 11 report will set the actual designation. Practically, a backup quarterback’s availability rarely affects a game plan.
• Weeks 1-4: Irrelevant to fantasy in all four games unless Caleb Williams gets hurt. If Bagent’s back lingers, Case Keenum becomes the emergency QB2, which would make a Williams injury materially worse for the Chicago offense.
• Who benefits if he sits: Case Keenum (No. 11) moves up to QB2 behind Caleb Williams.
• Change since the weekend: NEW – Bagent was not on the Sept 6 baseline injury list at all, and this back problem is separately reported as distinct from his earlier hamstring issue.

Fantasy takeaway: No fantasy action – but note that Chicago’s QB insurance behind Caleb Williams is now a 38-year-old journeyman rather than Bagent, which slightly raises the tail risk on every Bears skill player.

Practiced in full (on the report, trending to play) (1)

On the report but practicing fully — typically maintenance or the tail of something that has resolved. Start them, but note the injury is on file.

Marcus Mariota — WAS (QB2 behind Jayden Daniels, verified ACT on nfl.com roster and Ourlads 09/09/2026)

• Wednesday practice: Full
• Official status: (b) OFFICIAL PRACTICE-REPORT ENTRY WITHOUT FINAL GAME STATUS. Filed Wednesday, Sept 9 as ‘knee – Full Participation’. No game-status tag until Friday, Sept 11.
• Injury: Sprained MCL, right knee
• When it happened: August 2026 (training camp / preseason)
• Typical recovery for this injury: Grade 1 MCL sprain in a quarterback: 1-3 weeks. Grade 2: 3-6 weeks. Grade 3: 8-12 weeks, occasionally surgical. Unlike ACL injuries, isolated MCL sprains are managed non-operatively and heal reliably. A Full practice roughly 3-4 weeks out confirms Grade 1 and full resolution.
• Expected back to full health: Effectively full health now – unrestricted Full participation as of Wednesday, Sept 9, 2026
• Week 1: AVAILABLE as the backup for Sunday, Sept 13 (4:25 PM ET vs. Philadelphia). Not yet official; a Full Wednesday makes any Friday designation unlikely.
• Weeks 1-4: Weeks 1-4: available as QB2 in all four, barring recurrence. Has no standalone fantasy value while Jayden Daniels is healthy.
• Who benefits if he sits: Athan Kaliakmanis (QB, ACT) would become QB2; Sam Hartman (QB) is on the practice squad
• Change since the weekend: UPGRADED

Fantasy takeaway: Not rosterable while Daniels is healthy, but his return to Full practice restores Washington’s insurance behind the most fantasy-critical QB in the division.

No official designation yet (unconfirmed) (1)

Either the team’s reporting week is shifted (the Monday-night clubs file a day later) or the situation is beat-reported without an official entry. Real, but unconfirmed — verify before you rely on it.

Patrick Mahomes — KC (QB1 — verified ACT on nfl.com; QB1 on Ourlads (Sept 7) and si.com’s post-cuts Chiefs chart (Sept 3))

• Wednesday practice: not yet reported — Kansas City has not filed a practice report for this week and is not required to until Thursday Sept 10
• Official status: (c) STILL UNOFFICIAL — NO OFFICIAL FILING EXISTS TODAY. This is the single most important clarification in this update: because Kansas City plays Monday night, its first official injury report is not due until THURSDAY Sept 10, with the final game-status designation due Saturday Sept 12 at 4:00 PM ET. Everything on Mahomes today is head-coach commentary, not a filing. Andy Reid, Sept 8: ‘As far as our roster goes, there’s a very good chance that Patrick will go ahead and start unless something were to come up here in the next couple days. Most likely he’ll be the guy that’s out there.’ He was cleared for full training-camp practice in late July and has practiced without restriction since, but sat out all three preseason games.
• Injury: Left knee — torn ACL and LCL (multi-ligament injury), surgically repaired. Not a simple isolated ACL.
• When it happened: December 2025, during the 2025 season; surgery followed shortly after, ending his season
• Typical recovery for this injury: Isolated ACL reconstruction: 9–12 months to return to play. A combined ACL+LCL multi-ligament repair typically runs 9–12 months to return and 12–18 months to pre-injury explosiveness, because the lateral-side repair restricts early rehab loading.
• Expected back to full health: He is roughly 9 months post-op at Week 1 — the earliest edge of the normal window. Expect functional availability now but pre-injury mobility and off-platform improvisation to lag into October–November 2026.
• Week 1: Expected to START vs Denver, Monday Sept 14, 8:15 PM ET. To be clear: ‘expected to start’ is Reid’s word, not a filed designation. The first hard data point arrives Thursday Sept 10 (practice participation) and the binding one Saturday Sept 12 (game status).
• Weeks 1-4: Should start all four games barring a setback. Anticipate a deliberately reduced designed-run and scramble profile early — the rushing floor that props up his fantasy weeks is the piece most likely to be missing in Weeks 1–2, with the pocket passing intact and the mobility trending back by Weeks 3–4.
• Who benefits if he sits: Justin Fields (verified QB2 on nfl.com and Ourlads), then Garrett Nussmeier (QB3)
• Change since the weekend: UPGRADED

Fantasy takeaway: Start Mahomes as a low-end QB1 but check Kansas City’s Thursday practice report before locking him — and discount his rushing production until the multi-ligament knee proves it can handle scrambles.

Cleared since the weekend — off the report entirely (2)

The good news. These players carried an injury question into the weekend and are no longer listed by their teams at all.

Mitchell Trubisky — TEN (QB2 behind Cam Ward (verified on the Titans’ official 9/7/26 depth chart))

• Wednesday practice: Full (not listed on the Titans’ Wednesday Sept 9 report)
• Official status: Resolved — off the injury report
• Injury: Biceps — cleared
• When it happened: August 2026
• Typical recovery for this injury: Biceps strains/tendinitis in a throwing arm: 2-4 weeks. A full distal biceps tear is a different class entirely at 4-6 months, and clearly was not the case here.
• Expected back to full health: Now — no designation entering Week 1.
• Week 1: Available as the backup, no designation, Sunday Sept 13 vs. the Jets.
• Weeks 1-4: Healthy for Weeks 1-4 in a clipboard role. Only becomes fantasy-relevant if Cam Ward is injured.
• Who benefits if he sits: Practice-squad QB Hendon Hooker would be the emergency arm — not applicable, Trubisky is healthy.
• Change since the weekend: RESOLVED — now off the report. Was an unofficial ‘Questionable’ (biceps) on Sept 6.

Fantasy takeaway: No standalone value, but his return to health restores the Titans’ QB insurance, which matters only if you are speculating on a Cam Ward absence.

Haynes King — CAR (QB3, rookie, third on the depth chart behind Bryce Young and Kenny Pickett.)

• Wednesday practice: Full – not listed on the report.
• Official status: Resolved – off the injury report. He does not appear on Carolina’s Week 1 Wednesday report.
• Injury: Hamstring (resolved).
• When it happened: Camp injury in August 2026; cleared before Week 1.
• Typical recovery for this injury: 1-2 weeks for a mild hamstring strain, 3-6 for a moderate one.
• Expected back to full health: Now.
• Week 1: Healthy, no designation, but almost certainly a gameday inactive as QB3. Sunday, Sept 13 vs. Chicago.
• Weeks 1-4: Third-string with no path to snaps behind Young and Pickett through Week 4.
• Who benefits if he sits: Kenny Pickett is the QB2 ahead of him.
• Change since the weekend: RESOLVED – now off the report.

Fantasy takeaway: No fantasy relevance in any format – he is a healthy third-stringer.

Waiver wire: who gains if these names sit

• N/A – he is the one out. Tua Tagovailoa starts, Cooper Rush is the active backup. — if Michael Penix Jr. (ATL) can’t go.
• Davis Mills is the QB2 behind C.J. Stroud; Mark Gronowski is the practice-squad emergency arm. — if Graham Mertz (HOU) can’t go.
• Deshaun Watson is QB1, Shedeur Sanders QB2, Taylen Green QB3 – Gabriel is fourth in line even when healthy. — if Dillon Gabriel (CLE) can’t go.
• Not applicable – Lamar Jackson is QB1, Tyler Huntley QB2, Joe Fagnano QB3. — if Skylar Thompson (BAL) can’t go.
• Case Keenum (No. 11) moves up to QB2 behind Caleb Williams. — if Tyson Bagent (CHI) can’t go.

Bottom line at quarterback

4 of the 9 quarterbacks here are unavailable, 1 did not practice Wednesday, and 0 were limited. 2 cleared since the weekend. The Friday reports settle the middle two groups — that is where Week 1 lineups get decided.

Rosters and depth charts for all 32 teams were verified against official league roster pages before this report was compiled, and every player listed was confirmed to be on the roster shown. Designations come from official club and league injury reports filed Wednesday, September 9, 2026. Recovery timelines describe how long a class of injury typically sidelines an NFL player and are not a prediction for any individual.

NFL Week 1 Fantasy Football Injury Report Wednesday QB first appeared on Game On Media.