NFL Week 9 injury tracker: Kyler Murray out, Matthew Stafford questionable
ESPN’s Fantasy Football Week 9 injury tracker, featuring an aggregation of injury updates for quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends whose teams are scheduled to play this week. Here we’ll track practice reports, injury updates and any other news that may affect a player’s short-term or long-term availability.
Injury news aggregated by Rotowire.com. Additional commentary provided by ESPN Sr. injury analyst Stephania Bell.
Latest Dolphins Injury news
Braxton Berrios, WR, Q
Fri, Nov 3: Berrios (hamstring) is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Chiefs, Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN.com reports.
Durham Smythe, TE, Q
Fri, Nov 3: Smythe (ankle) is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against Kansas City, Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN.com reports.
More Dolphins injury news >>
Latest Chiefs Injury news
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, O
Thu, Nov 2: Edwards-Helaire has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Dolphins in Frankfurt, Germany due to an illness, Matt McMullen of the Chiefs’ official site reports.
Recent IR Activity:
Richie James, WR
Fri, Nov 3: James (knee) is listed as questionable for Sunday’s Week 9 game against the Dolphins.
Latest Vikings Injury news
No injuries to report
Recent IR Activity:
Kirk Cousins, QB
Wed, Nov 1: Cousins announced Wednesday via social media that he underwent successful surgery to repair his torn right Achilles’ tendon.
Jalen Nailor, WR
Sun, Oct 29: Nailor (hamstring) won’t play Sunday versus the Packers, Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune reports.
More Vikings injury news >>
Latest Falcons Injury news
Drake London, WR, O
More Falcons injury news >>
Latest Cardinals Injury news
Emari Demercado, RB, Q
Fri, Nov 3: Demercado (toe) wasn’t seen at the open portion of Friday’s practice, Darren Urban of the Cardinals’ official site reports.
Kyler Murray, QB, O
Thu, Nov 2: Murray (knee) was removed from the Cardinals’ injury report Thursday but remains on the reserve/PUP list, Darren Urban of the team’s official site reports.
Michael Wilson, WR, Q
Thu, Nov 2: Wilson (shoulder) isn’t taking part in Thursday’s practice, Bo Brack of GoPHNX.com reports.
Greg Dortch, WR, Q
Recent IR Activity:
James Conner, RB
Wed, Nov 1: Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said Wednesday that Conner (knee) is “ready to go” and “excited to get back” on the field, Tyler Drake of ArizonaSports.com reports.
More Cardinals injury news >>
Latest Browns Injury news
David Bell, WR, O
David Njoku, TE, Q
Thu, Nov 2: Njoku (ankle) returned to a limited practice Thursday, Jake Trotter of ESPN.com reports.
Jerome Ford, RB, Q
Thu, Nov 2: Ford (ankle) was a limited participant in Thursday’s practice, Scott Petrak of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reports.
More Browns injury news >
Los Angeles Rams at Green Bay Packers
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Sunday 1 p.m. ET
Stephania Bell’s perspective
Matthew Stafford’s right thumb caught the helmet of a Cowboys defender last Sunday, it pulled his thumb in a direction away from the rest of his hand, injuring his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL, yes there is one on the inner side of the base of the thumb and one on the inner aspect of the elbow). Stafford, known for his toughness and willingness to play through injuries, did return but after scoring on a two-point conversion where his hand — while gripping the football – slammed into the ground, the pain and inability to control the football was enough to force him out. As of Friday, Stafford had not practiced and the Rams officially listed him as Questionable. McVay has already said they would give him up until the game to make their decision so the official word on his status may not come until pregame inactives.
Coach Sean McVay confirmed the diagnosis of a UCL sprain on Monday, telling reporters, “we were encouraged it was a sprain … There were potential concerns that it could be worse.”
It certainly could have been.
Stafford tore his UCL in 2020 while playing for the Detroit Lions and played the latter half of his last season with the team with the damaged ligament. When Stafford joined the Rams in 2021, he underwent surgery on his thumb during the offseason. It largely went unnoticed because Stafford participated in preseason activities without a hitch and his thumb has been fine, until now. The Rams’ hand consultant, Dr. Steve Shin (who has treated many NFL players, including former NFL quarterback Drew Brees, who suffered a similar injury in 2019) performs UCL repairs with InternalBrace augmentation (procedure in the thumb similar to what quarterback Brock Purdy had in his elbow where the native ligament is repaired and augmented with SutureTape to provide additional reinforcement). The concern then after this latest injury for Stafford had to be whether his prior repair held up.
McVay, via his comments, provided the answer. He reported Stafford as day-to-day and has not yet ruled him out for Week 9. If, in fact, the prior repair was disrupted or had there been a fracture near or around the area, it would have required another procedure. A mild sprain — or stretching of the ligament without structural damage — would allow for a return to play as soon as the pain subsides and the ability to grip and throw a football normally is restored. We know Stafford is a gamer and might push to play if he’s close, but given the Rams have a bye in Week 10, he might be encouraged to rest until the following week to allow him more optimal recovery time.
Puka Nacua came out of the Week 8 contest against the Cowboys with swelling in his knee, according to coach Sean McVay. He was held to limited practices throughout the week and is listed as Questionable. Resolution of the swelling is key to how effective he can be when running and his status may come down to gametime.
Aaron Jones comes into the Week 9 game with no injury designation but it is the comments coach Matt LaFleur made Friday that are most interesting. He told reporters that Jones (who practiced on a limited bases in a no-contact jersey all week) “…looked good, had a good week…and ready to cut him loose.” If indeed that is the plan, it is good news for fantasy managers who have watched Jones, in the few games he has played, carry a workload well below his usual. Jones started off in the season opener with over 100 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns but he suffered a hamstring injury late in that game and hasn’t been himself since. To that point, it was just a week ago when LaFleur commented that Jones wasn’t “at 100 percent, by any stretch.” Apparently he saw something different in Jones’ workouts this week and perhaps having a couple of games under his belt without a setback has helped Jones’ confidence in his leg. That alone could translate to better performance. If Jones can approach his usual workload and get through this game without a setback, it may be safe to say the injury is truly behind him.
