The league has released its Saturday injury report, and it includes some notable names and changes. Most notably, the Eagles have ruled out Miles Sanders, while the Bucs have upgraded Mike Evans to questionable.
There is a key rule/guideline for teams. If a player doesn’t travel with a team, then he must be ruled as “out”. So while it was fine for Philadelphia to list Sanders as questionable on Friday, if they wanted to continue listing him as such, he would need to travel to Sunday’s game. He’s not, so they’re now listing him as out.
With Sanders out, Boston Scott will not only start, he should be out there on pretty much every play of the game. They don’t have much behind him – just journeyman Corey Clement and Jason Huntley. They picked up Huntley off waivers less than a week ago. Scott probably will catch a half-dozen dumpoff passes, making him an awfully safe selection in PPR formats. In our eyes, he's now the 5th-best running back for Week 1 in PPR scoring. We've got him 8th for standard scoring and 14th for TD-only. Though Philadelphia probably won’t have much success running against Washington’s talented defensive line, Scott ran for 3 short touchdowns when these teams played in Week 17 last year.
Mike Evans, on the other hand, looks like he might play. Probably in a limited role, with him having a hamstring injury. He didn’t practice at all on Wednesday or Thursday. They called him doubtful after he put in a limited practice on Friday. But the Bucs presumably wouldn’t be flying him to New Orlans unless they felt there was a chance he would play.
Via this travel rule, David Montgomery presumably should play at least some for Chicago. The Bears probably wouldn’t be flying him to Detroit solely for the purposes of keeping the Lions guessing.
Also on Saturday, the 49ers placed Deebo Samuel on injured reserve. This means he definitely will miss the team’s first three games. Samuel likely will return at something close to full strength in Week 4. The 49ers have a host of modest wide receivers, but Kendrick Bourne looks like the best choice for Weeks 1-3.
Report indicate the Patriots are going with Nick Folk as their kicker in Week 1.
For the Monday night games, each of the four teams has a notable player.
The Steelers will be without David DeCastro (knee), who’s one of the best guards in the league. They are otherwise healthy.
The Giants say Golden Tate (hamstring) is questionable. Tate has been a limited participant in practice all week.
The Titans will be without pass-rusher Vic Beasley (knee), cornerback Adoree Jackson (knee) and backup running back Darrynton Evans (hamstring).
Denver has ruled out Von Miller (ankle) and linebacker Mark Baron (hamstring), while receivers Courtland Sutton (shoulder) and KJ Hamler (hamstring) are questionable. Vic Fangio says that Sutton will be a game-time decision. If he can do 10 jumping jacks, the coach says, he’ll play. And Hamler, according to Fangio, isn’t as likely to play. Sounds like Sutton probably will play, but he’s not 100 percent.
For the affected players, we’re working in revised numbers, and they’ll be plugged into the custom rankings area of the website soon.
MONDAY NIGHT INJURIES
PITTSBURGH STEELERS at NEW YORK GIANTS
PITTSBURGH STEELERS
OUT: G David DeCastro (knee)
DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
Thursday: G David DeCastro (knee), WR Diontae Johnson (foot)
Friday: G David DeCastro (knee)
Saturday: G David DeCastro (knee), QB Ben Roethlisberger (not injury related)
FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Friday: WR Diontae Johnson (foot)
Saturday: WR Diontae Johnson (foot)
NEW YORK GIANTS
QUESTIONABLE: LB Tae Crowder (hamstring), WR Golden Tate (hamstring), TE Levine Toilolo (hamstring)
DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
Thursday: DE Markus Golden (illness)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Thursday: S Adrian Colbert (illness), LB Tae Crowder (hamstring), WR Golden Tate (hamstring), TE Levine Toilolo (hamstring)
Friday: LB Tae Crowder (hamstring), WR Golden Tate (hamstring), TE Levine Toilolo (hamstring)
Saturday: LB Tae Crowder (hamstring), WR Golden Tate (hamstring), TE Levine Toilolo (hamstring)
FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Friday: S Adrian Colbert (illness), DE Markus Golden (illness)
Saturday: S Adrian Colbert (illness), DE Markus Golden (illness)
TENNESSEE TITANS at DENVER BRONCOS
TENNESSEE TITANS
OUT: LB Vic Beasley (knee), G Jamil Douglas (hand), RB Darrynton Evans (hamstring), CB Adoree' Jackson (knee), LB Derick Roberson (knee)
QUESTIONABLE: WR Corey Davis (hamstring)
DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
Thursday: G Jamil Douglas (hand), LB Derick Roberson (knee), S Kenny Vaccaro (not injury related)
Friday: LB Vic Beasley (knee), G Jamil Douglas (hand), T Dennis Kelly (not injury related), LB Derick Roberson (knee), G Rodger Saffold (not injury related)
Saturday: CB Adoree' Jackson (knee), LB Derick Roberson (knee)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Thursday: LB Vic Beasley (knee), WR Corey Davis (hamstring), RB Darrynton Evans (hamstring)
Friday: RB Darrynton Evans (hamstring), CB Adoree' Jackson (knee)
Saturday: LB Vic Beasley (knee), G Jamil Douglas (hand), RB Darrynton Evans (hamstring)
FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Friday: WR Corey Davis (hamstring), S Kenny Vaccaro (not injury related)
Saturday: WR Corey Davis (hamstring), T Dennis Kelly (not injury related), G Rodger Saffold (not injury related), S Kenny Vaccaro (not injury related)
DENVER BRONCOS
OUT: LB Mark Barron (hamstring), LB Von Miller (ankle)
QUESTIONABLE: WR K.J. Hamler (hamstring), WR Courtland Sutton (shoulder)
DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICE
Thursday: LB Mark Barron (hamstring), LB Von Miller (ankle)
Friday: LB Mark Barron (hamstring), LB Von Miller (ankle), WR Courtland Sutton (shoulder)
Saturday: LB Mark Barron (hamstring), LB Von Miller (ankle), WR Courtland Sutton (shoulder)
LIMITED PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Thursday: LB Bradley Chubb (knee), G Graham Glasgow (ankle), WR K.J. Hamler (hamstring), TE Albert Okwuegbunam (ankle), WR Courtland Sutton (shoulder)
Friday: WR K.J. Hamler (hamstring)
Saturday: WR K.J. Hamler (hamstring)
FULL PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICE
Thursday: S Trey Marshall (wrist)
Friday: LB Bradley Chubb (knee), G Graham Glasgow (ankle), S Trey Marshall (wrist), TE Albert Okwuegbunam (ankle)
Saturday: LB Bradley Chubb (knee), G Graham Glasgow (ankle), S Trey Marshall (wrist), TE Albert Okwuegbunam (ankle)