Week 9 Injury Predictions: Baltimore’s Quarterback Bingo Card

Play-by-play: Most Sunday teams won’t file their first Week 9 practice report until Wednesday. Minnesota and Buffalo play Monday, so their reporting begins even later.

Color: Our medical consultant is a gas-station hot dog. He has a stethoscope, a tiny clipboard, and the same amount of inside information we do.

Each call below predicts availability, not lineup advice.

The offensive lines

Start with the line, because somebody still has to protect whoever gets the start at quarterback. Ronnie Stanley, John Simpson, Vega Ioane, and Roger Rosengarten were estimated as limited Monday. Ioane is now Out with a knee injury, Simpson is Questionable with a back injury, and Rosengarten is Questionable with an ankle injury. Stanley carries no current injury designation. Ethan Pocic, Jovaughn Gwyn, and Danny Pinter are on IR.

That collection affects whoever lines up at quarterback, along with Derrick Henry and Justice Hill behind them. Henry can break tackles. Asking him to break the defensive line before reaching the line of scrimmage is greedy.

Jon Gaines II is Out with an ankle injury. Paris Johnson Jr., Chase Bisontis, and Isaiah Adams are on IR, and Jayden Williams is Questionable with a knee injury. Gardner Minshew II gets this protection package, and the damage rolls downhill to Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier.

Color: The hot dog reviewed both lines, leaked mustard on the clipboard, and requested reassignment to the condiment station.

Thursday

Lamar Jackson, Ravens

Baltimore lists Jackson Out with a thumb injury. The roster already gives us the answer.

Call: SIT. Confidence: high enough to carve into the desk.

Bhayshul Tuten, Jaguars

Tuten is Questionable with an ankle injury, and Monday’s walkthrough gave him a DNP estimate. Jacksonville has only Tuesday and Wednesday to move him toward clearance, which is a lousy amount of runway on a short week.

Chris Rodriguez Jr. would gain relevance if Tuten can’t go, though Rodriguez had a limited estimate of his own Monday.

Call: SIT. Confidence: medium-high. Tuesday’s participation can still make this prediction smell stupid.

Jakobi Meyers, Jaguars

Meyers is Questionable with a hamstring injury after a limited estimate Monday.

Call: PLAY. Confidence: medium. Coaches say maybe; we’re buying a cautious yes.

Sunday and Monday

Kyler Murray, Vikings

Murray is Questionable with a hamstring injury that remained sore Monday. Kevin O’Connell intends to start him against Buffalo if he’s healthy.

Murray can play without offering his usual rushing work, so active and fully useful aren’t the same prediction.

Call: PLAY. Confidence: medium. Keep a Monday-compatible escape hatch.

Matthew Stafford, Rams

Stafford is Questionable with an arm injury after leaving Week 8 with soreness in his throwing arm. Sean McVay hasn’t indicated that Stafford will miss Week 9, and there’s nothing concrete yet that moves this from maintenance concern to absence.

Call: PLAY. Confidence: medium-high. The arm gets Wednesday’s inspection; the panic can stay in its cage until then.

Breece Hall, Jets

Hall remains listed Out with a quadriceps injury, but national reporting expects him back after five missed games. He was limited throughout last week before the Jets held him out again, which suggests the return was close without proving the workload will be normal.

Call: PLAY. Confidence: medium. Active looks more likely than a full plate of touches.

Christian McCaffrey, 49ers

McCaffrey enters the week Questionable with a calf injury.

Color: The hot dog has given McCaffrey a mustard-colored thumbs-up. This means nothing medically, but the little bastard looks confident.

Call: PLAY. Confidence: medium. Wednesday can move it quickly in either direction.

Jeremiyah Love, Cardinals

Love is Out with an ankle injury, and the Cardinals called it a new issue rather than an aggravation.

Tyler Allgeier has no injury designation and becomes the principal fantasy contingency.

Call: SIT. Confidence: high. Love has to beat the ankle and the plumbing disaster in front of him.

Cam Skattebo, Giants

Skattebo is Questionable with a hamstring injury. He worked off to the side with trainers Monday, but that was an unofficial post-bye session, not limited participation on an NFL injury report.

Fantasy managers love a hamstring coin flip almost as much as stepping barefoot into warm cat vomit.

Call: SIT. Confidence: medium. A real practice would pull him back toward PLAY.

David Montgomery, Texans

Montgomery remains Out with a groin injury after missing the two games before Houston’s bye.

Woody Marks is Questionable with a leg injury, which leaves the Texans’ contingency plan wearing its own hospital bracelet.

Call: SIT. Confidence: high. He needs an actual practice, not another coach shrug.

TreVeyon Henderson, Patriots

Henderson is listed Out with an illness that caused consecutive DNPs and kept him from traveling in Week 8.

Call: PLAY. Confidence: medium-high. The thermometer gets the deciding vote.

A.J. Brown, Patriots

Brown is listed Out with an ankle injury. An ankle and knee combination kept him from traveling last week after the knee flared during practice, and two DNPs followed. Until he gets back onto the field, a clean return requires more faith than evidence.

Call: SIT. Confidence: medium. One limited practice would make this uncomfortable; two would flip it.

Emeka Egbuka, Buccaneers

Egbuka is listed Out with a foot injury. He needs a practice on the ledger before we move off this call.

Call: SIT. Confidence: medium-high. Wednesday has permission to make us look like idiots.

Christian Watson, Packers

Watson is Questionable after reports of a broken rib, and he returned to finish Week 8. This becomes a pain-tolerance question unless the Packers’ practice report shows a setback.

Color: Our hot dog recommends avoiding contact. Avoiding contact has been his career plan since the roller grill.

Call: PLAY. Confidence: medium-high. He finished the game, which matters more than the Tuesday grimace report.

Jake Ferguson, Cowboys

Ferguson is listed Out with a low-ankle sprain. Brian Schottenheimer said he has a chance to play, and the shorter recovery curve gives him a real path if he can practice by Thursday.

Call: PLAY. Confidence: medium.

ZeroChalk is not affiliated with the NFL, NFL teams, or the NFLPA. Injury and role calls are best-guess reads from public practice and camp reporting, not inside information.