The NFL is back, but unfortunately, its return means key players missing time.
Jaxson Dart
Dart left the Giants on their opening drive with a knee injury. Despite his efforts to return to the game, he was ultimately ruled out.
The initial reporting suggested that New York may have avoided the worst, but Tuesday night Ian Rapoport said it was “worse than expected.” The question now is whether Dart will miss the rest of the season.
Head Coach John Harbaugh has been hesitant to disclose any further information regarding Dart’s status, as he is still being evaluated. Regardless, Giants fans should not expect to see their starter on the field any time soon with a best-case scenario recovery time of four weeks.
Update: Dart will go season-ending knee surgery to repair his MCL and PCL.
Jayden Daniels
Daniels suffered another elbow injury to the same arm that kept him off the field last year. While x-rays came back negative again this time, it is still almost exactly the same injury as last season.
Daniels chose rehab over surgery last year to avoid losing the rest of the season, and now he is faced with the same choices. However, experts noted how rare this type of re-injury is and whether or not surgery will actually fix the issue in a USA Today article.
While he will definitely not be on the field for the foreseeable future, the exact timeline is still an unknown, similar to Dart’s situation.
Bears Quarterbacks
Chicago fans were able to breathe a sigh of relief after Caleb Williams left the game on Sunday. Williams went down with an apparent leg injury on a run and had to be carted off the field.
Williams’ initial reaction on the field led fans to fear the worst, but it was determined that he only suffered a mild hamstring injury. Still, his status for Week Three is in question.
Normally, Tyson Bagent would be set to start, but he is also on the injury report after being placed in concussion protocol. The Bears may be looking to third-string journeyman Case Keenum to take over play-calling duties Monday night against the Eagles.
Zay Flowers
The Ravens’ number one receiver left their Week One matchup with a hamstring injury that led him to miss their second game of the year. The injury was not deemed severe by any stretch, and the absence was more precautionary, with a long season ahead.
The reporting over the last week has been positive, and he has been progressing well. While we are still awaiting the Wednesday practice report, that could be a strong indicator of his status for Sunday.
Sam Darnold
Darnold has only played five snaps in Seattle’s repeat campaign. His hip injury avoided catastrophe, but has still kept him sidelined. He is expected to return to practice this week, which is a good sign, but the Seahawks may still want to be cautious.
Backup Drew Lock has manned the ship well, getting them to 2-0. His play may give the coaching staff enough confidence to allow Darnold to get back to 100% before putting him back on the field.
Michael Penix Jr.
In better news, the Atlanta Falcons will get their second-string quarterback this week. Penix missed the first two games while he was still recovering from an ACL injury.
The news comes as an encouragement for Falcons fans as Cooper Rush has struggled through two weeks after Tua Tagovailoa went down with an oblique strain just before the season started. Penix has shown flashes over his 12 career starts.
Dallas Goedert
The Eagles’ tight end went down this past week with an MCL sprain and will miss a significant amount of time. With A.J. Brown already out of the building, Jalen Hurts is now down 18 of his 26 passing touchdowns from last season.
Goedert’s injury led the Eagles to bring back Zach Ertz to give Hurts some familiarity during that time.
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