Thursday, Sept. 24
While quarterback injuries dominate the NFL news, here are five under-the-radar injuries that have impact.
By the way, Bears coach John Fox should be fined by the league for his preposterous lie that Jay Cutler might have a chance to play this week. Now that the league is in bed with fantasy football they should crackdown on misleading injury reports.
Branden Albert, Dolphins offensive left tackle: He's doubtful with a hamstring injury. The Bills led the league in sacks last season. Ryan Tannehill likely won't have his blinside protector and his top runner, Lamar Miller, is hobbled. Albert's replacement is Jason Fox, a career backup with three starts who has been in the league since 2010.
Kiko Alonzo, Eagles linebacker: The Eagles' offense is under intense scrutiny having played six of eight terrible quarters. Their defense is in trouble, too, with a cluster injury problem at linebacker. Alonzo is out and Mychal Kendricks isn't likely to play either. Both were injured last week. At least the Eagles signed Byron Maxwell this past offseason to shore up their secondary. Oh, wait, Maxwell has been the worst defensive back in the league so far.
Vontae Davis, Colts cornerback: Davis suffered a slight concussion against the Jets this past Monday night. However, Indianapolis received good news on Thursday. Davis has been cleared to play. Davis is Indy's best cornerback, one of their few above average defensive players. The Colts, though, still could be minus their second and third-best corners.
Ryan Shazier, Steelers linebacker: Shazier is a rising star. I consider him Pittsburgh's best defensive player. His status needs to be monitored after he missed a mid-week practice because of a shoulder injury. The Steelers are extremely shaky defensively. They can't afford to be without Shazier.
Luke Kuechly, Panthers middle linebacker: Kuechly missed last week's game with a concussion and isn't likely to play this week either. There is no better tackles guy in football. Carolina has good linebacker depth, but Kuechly is to Carolina's defense what Drew Brees is to the Saints' offense. Mark Ingram could be in line for a big performance if Kuechly has to miss this game, too.
On the handicapping front, I enter this weekend 11-3-1 (78%) on my NFL plays and 12-8-1 (60%) on my college football plays. I have a number of huge plays going, including my AFC Total of the Year and Pac-12 Game of the Month. Both are Triple Stars and can be found here with some of my plays and packages. Remember that a subscription gets you all my plays as I go for my 20th winning NFL season in the last 22 years: /pregamepros/pro-bettor/bettor.aspx?id=7746#capper,
As always let's have no bad luck and no bad beats!