NFL Week 11 injury report: What to know about Chase Young, T.J. Watt, more
By Dr. Matt Provencher
FOX Sports Injury & Performance Analyst
Week 11 of the NFL season comes with plenty of uncertainty on the injury front.
Yes, Russell Wilson has returned, but it was to mixed reviews, as the Seattle Seahawks were shut out by the Green Bay Packers. The statuses of T.J. Watt, Colt McCoy, Rob Gronkowski and others also remain unclear as they battle aches and pains.
And for the Washington Football Team, it will be a matter of figuring out how to move forward without defensive star Chase Young.
All of this is very important, as the health of any NFL team can have a direct impact on the standings. We've worked to quantify player and team health with our BUS score, which you can learn more about in the video below.
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Dr. Matt Provencher explains what the B.U.S or "Banged Up Score" is and how it affected teams last season in the NFL.
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As far as this week goes, here is the lowdown on seven key injuries, with players' expected time missed and impact on production when they return.
Chase Young, DE, Washington Football Team
Injury: ACL tear
Impact: Affects cutting/pivoting, burst off the line, confidence
Surgery: Yes
Potential time missed: Remainder of season
Impact on production: I don't expect to see much of a decrease in his productivity when he returns in 2022.
Notes: Young is a powerful force coming off the line, and an ACL tear is a big blow to the Washington defense. ACL tears take an average of nine to 12 months to recover fully, and it can take even longer to get full strength back.
After surgery and regaining motion, variables such as strength, proprioception and stability will have to be emphasized before Young returns next season. Young will have to feel confident in his knee mentally, as often the mental hurdles of this type of injury supersede the physical ones.
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Dr. Matt Provencher shares his prognosis for Chase Young's right knee injury: "I don’t see much of a decrease in his productivity."
Aaron Jones, RB, Packers
Injury: MCL sprain
Impact: Affects cutting, speed, stability
Surgery: No
Potential time missed: 1-3 games
Impact on production: Expect Jones' production to be down 10-13% in rushing yards the first two games back, and then level off.
Notes: After an MRI, this injury is being called "mild". This is a non-surgical injury, which is great for the Packers. Jones and the medical staff will have to spend time calming the injury down, in terms of pain and swelling, and then working to enhance healing of the ligament.
Once his pain is better, Jones can wear a brace if they think he needs additional stability, or he can return without one if he is ready to go in terms of strength and stability.
Injury: Hip/knee
Impact: Pain, intermittent swelling
he texSurgery: No
Potential time missed: 0-1 games
Impact on production: I don't expect any impact on Watt's production overall, but could see a 12-14% decline in snap percentage.
Notes: Watt’s MRIs of his hip and knee both came back negative. This is, of course, great news for the Steelers, as Watt has been a force on the football field. A negative MRI means he should be ready to go this week, barring any intermittent swelling or pain that arises to cause him to not move like he normally does.
Watt will be a player to watch this week as he progresses, but I don’t foresee any significant loss in playing time, considering the prognosis.
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"T.J. should be back next week and return at a high level, and I don’t anticipate much of a decline, if any, when he returns," Dr. Matt Provencher says.
Injury: Neck sprain
Impact: Affects neck rotation/strength
Surgery: No
Potential time missed: 0-2 games
Impact on production: We expect to see minimal performance decline and minimal-to-no snap percentage decline.
Notes: Hill was released from the hospital Sunday night and has all movement in his extremities. He was diagnosed with a cervical neck sprain, which means he was cleared to fly back to Cleveland, which he did Monday.
However, he might still miss games depending on his symptoms. We will have to watch how he progresses to see when he will feel well enough to suit back up.
Colt McCoy, QB, Cardinals
Injury: Pec strain
Impact: Affects throwing motion
Surgery: No
Potential time missed: 0-1 games
Impact on production: We don’t anticipate a decline in productivity when he returns.
Notes: If Kyler Murray is ready to return, there is a chance McCoy might not be starting, regardless of his injury status. Even so, it sounds as though McCoy has been progressing well, and there is a chance he will play this week with the strain. He will have to keep up with his practice schedule this week.
Rob Gronkowski, TE, Buccaneers
Injury: Back
Impact: Affects breathing, ability to take hits, core control and stability
Surgery: No
Potential time missed: 1-2 games
Impact on production: His overall snap percentage will probably decrease by about 10-15%, and he will have a minimum 15% decrease in catches and overall yards.
Notes: Symptomatically, Gronkowski might be feeling some continued issues in terms of pain and rotation. Of course, coaches will not want to return him if he doesn’t feel his best.
The Bucs have a lot of weapons on offense, and it doesn’t make sense to put Gronk in a vulnerable situation if the team can reach the playoffs without him. Gronk has a pretty extensive injury history going back to college and knows his body pretty well. Once he feels strong and the coaches and medical staff are comfortable with his progress, he will be back in the lineup.
Russell Wilson, QB, Seahawks
Injury: Mallett finger/finger fracture
Impact: Affects grip, throwing, accuracy
Surgery: Yes
Potential time missed: Returned Nov. 14
Impact on production: For the short ball (within 15-20 yards), we don’t anticipate a decline, but for the longer throws, he might have some issues with accuracy as well as ball speed and length of throw.
Overall, we expect Wilson to be down about 10-12% in overall throwing yards in the first three games back, as he works on mobility and trust of his finger.
Notes: Wilson returned and threw some nice passes Sunday, but he didn’t look like his normal self. As predicted by our data, his productivity was down following his injury, as he passed for just 161 yards and threw two interceptions.
The data suggests he will begin to play better as he gets back into game situations, but we will have to watch over the next few weeks.
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Dr. Matt Provencher provides insight on Seahawks QB Russell Wilson's finger injury.
Renowned orthopedist Dr. Matt Provencher and his company, Proven Performance Technology (PPT), deliver data-driven injury insights to football fans. In this first-of-a-kind role as Athlete Injury and Performance Analyst for FOX Sports’ digital platforms, Provencher provides important predictive player health and recovery information about post-injury performance, the impact of weather, field conditions and more.