Site Super Admin • August 24, 2025
Preseason Injury Recap
Preseason is over, and fantasy drafts are about to take off! As fantasy football drafts kick off, staying ahead of the latest injury news is the ultimate edge. Every year, players with hidden risk factors derail seasons, while savvy managers who understand the medical side steal league-winning value. This week's presea
Preseason is over, and fantasy drafts are about to take off! As fantasy football drafts kick off, staying ahead of the latest injury news is the ultimate edge. Every year, players with hidden risk factors derail seasons, while savvy managers who understand the medical side steal league-winning value. This week's preseason injury recap includes stars like Lamar Jackson, Justin Jefferson, AJ Brown, De’Von Achane, and Chris Godwin, plus emerging names like Travis Hunter and Tet McMillan.
Knowing how these injuries impact performance and recurrence risk is critical for shaping your draft strategy. That’s exactly why I built the Fantasy Injury Guide, updated weekly with detailed player profiles, medical analysis, and actionable recommendations so you can draft with confidence and avoid the landmines. Purchase now!
Lamar Jackson
Injury: Foot Injury
Analysis: Jackson had his foot stepped on, but X-rays were negative. He's likely dealing with some mild bruising; that's it. This is a non-factor for his week 1 status and is not a long-term concern. Jackson is an elite fantasy QB.
Jordan Love
Injury: Left Thumb Ligament Surgery
Analysis: Love has returned to practice after undergoing surgery on his left thumb. With this being his non-throwing hand, this is not a concern for his week 1 status and does not negatively affect his 2025 outlook.
Matthew Stafford
Injury: Lumbar Disc Injury
Analysis: Stafford resumed practicing this week as he continues to deal with a lumbar disc herniation. I've been expressing my concerns over the past few weeks that this will be an injury that may get worse throughout the season. Research has shown a 20% recurrence rate of lumbar disc injuries. 20% itself is high, but diving deeper into the research, we can see that no large longitudinal studies on non-operative care for lumbar disc injuries have been conducted on football players, meaning for Stafford, the risk for a recurrence is likely much higher than 20%.
Lumbar disc injuries get aggravated with the shearing forces placed on them during spinal rotation (like throwing), as well as combine flexion and rotation, which can occur when he gets hit. Can Stafford play well? Sure, but the risk of him getting re-injured is high.
Justin Jefferson
Injury: Hamstring Injury
Analysis: Jefferson has been ramping back up after a hamstring injury early in camp. The current injury is on the opposite leg of the hamstring injury that took half of his 2023 season. Hamstrings are critical for elite-level speed and acceleration, with the load on the hamstrings increasing dramatically when a player hits his top speed. This is why receivers are the most exposed to hamstring injuries. Recurrence rates are 20-30% meaning Jefferson will be at elevated risk of re-injury, particularly early in the season, but Minnesota appears to have been progressing Jefferson appropriately to help reduce the likelihood of re-injury.
AJ Brown
Injury: Hamstring Injury
Analysis: Similar to Jefferson above, the Eagles have managed Brown's hamstring injury with caution, keeping week 1 status as the priority. Brown's outlook and re-injury risk will be similar to Jefferson's, though Brown has a history of two prior hamstring injuries. Re-injury will be a risk, but Brown is still a solid WR1.
Tet McMillan
Injury: Hamstring Injury
Analysis: McMillan has missed some time with a minor hamstring injury. The 22-year-old had no reported injuries in college, but now has two minor hamstring injuries between OTAs and camp. His age will help ensure full healing and reduce re-injury, but two hamstring injuries will increase his risk somewhat during the 2025 season.
Devonta Smith
Injury: Groin Injury
Analysis: Smith has been missing practice with a groin injury but is expected to be ready for week 1. Groin injuries can impact sprinting and cutting, and carry a recurrence rate of around 18%, but essentially have no impact on fantasy production. Smith is still a solid WR 2-3.
De’Von Achane
Injury: Calf Injury
Analysis: Achane appears to be on track for week 1 as he rehabs a calf injury. The calf muscles are critical for acceleration and top-flight sprinting, which Achane is known for. Receurrence rates are 15-20%, which is a threat to Achane's 2025 season and is something fantasy managers should consider. Running backs historically see about a 7% dip in fantasy points in the first game after a calf injury. Many people will be concerned with the likelihood that this progresses to an Achilles tear. Yes, that is possible, and the existence of a calf injury will slightly increase the risk on the Achilles, but this is still very unlikely. Achane has a ton of upside, but it does come with some injury risk.
Jauan Jennings
Injury: Calf Injury
Analysis: Jennings is on track for week 1. Like Achane above, re-injury risk is 15-20%, a phenomenon we have already experienced with Jennings. There is no question that this will increase the risk to Jennings' health in 2025, particularly early in the season. WRs experience a large 37% dip in fantasy points in the first game after a calf injury. This quickly returns to their norms in games 2-3 after injury.
Brandon Aiyuk
Injury: ACL/MCL Repair
Analysis: Aiyuk appears to be targeting a week 6 return from his ACL/MCL injury. Re-tear rates are 10-15% in the first year after an ACL injury, and rates of soft tissue injuries such as hamstring, quad, groin, and calf injuries are elevated as well. Additionally, WRs average a 28% dip in points per game in the first season after an ACL. Occasionally, there will be outliers who excel in year one after an ACL, but these are far and few in between.
Jacob Cowing
Injury: Hamstring Injury
Analysis: Cowing is expected to miss another 6 weeks with a hamstring injury. This length of absence indicates at minimum a grade II injury with significant amounts of muscle or tendon damage, or a proximal tendon injury. Cowing will certainly be at a high risk for re-injury when he returns and is not very attractive in re-draft formats, but can be rostered and stashed on the IR in dynasty formats.
Chris Godwin
Injury: Ankle Dislocation
Analysis: Godwin continues to rehab his ankle dislocation, and while he will start the season on the 53-man roster, he is not expected to play until October. Avoiding the PUP indicates Godwin is beginning to progress into the final phase of rehab, which is sport-specific training. This includes position drills, progressing into team drills, and finally full-contact drills. We still need to comprehend just how serious the injury he is attempting to return from is. At this point, we do not know if Godwin will ever regain the same top-end speed, agility, explosiveness, and muscular endurance we are used to. At age 29, these traits are difficult to regain after such a significant injury. I'll be keeping a close eye on practice videos and reports over the coming weeks. While Godwin has been elite in his career, he is a risky selection in fantasy this season.
Jalen McMillan
Injury: Neck Injury
Analysis: McMillan will miss a good chunk of 2025 with a severe neck ligament injury. Based on the mechanism of injury that put his neck in maximal flexion, he likely injured his Nuchal Ligament, the interspinous/supraspinous ligaments, or the facet capsular ligaments. In fantasy terms, none of that matters; what we need to know is that it does not appear there is a disc injury or fracture, which is excellent news. These ligaments should heal well and not affect his play when he returns.
Tyreek Hill
Injury: Oblique Injury
Analysis: Hill continues not to practice, but his week 1 status is not in doubt. Obliques are used to rotate the torso and brace for impact and generally heal well. At this point, I do not expect Hill's oblique to be an issue for week 1 and should not impact his stat line.
Travis Hunter
Injury: Upper Body Injury
Analysis: Hunter was held out of Jacksonville's final preseason game as he continues to rehab an upper-body injury. Jacksonville has shown no concern for week 1. While we still don't have clarification on what tissue is injured, most upper-body injuries do not lead to extended absences or production declines in receivers.
Joe Mixon
Injury: Foot Injury
Analysis: Mixon is a candidate to start the season on the PUP list with this mysterious foot injury that has been lingering for months. Any foot injury that takes this long to resolve can dramatically impact a runner's ability to plant and cut and will have a high likelihood of recurring. Mixon is completely off my draft board.
Hollywood Brown
Injury: Ankle/Foot Injury
Analysis: Brown has returned to practice and should be ready to go for week 1. Foot and ankle injuries have a high recurrence rate, and Brown has a lengthy injury history. He should be able to play well this season, but his injury risk is high.
Najee Harris
Injury: Eye Injury
Analysis: Harris has been practicing and appears on track to play in week 1. Harris has been extremely dependable from a health standpoint, and this eye injury won't increase risk for future injury. Harris can be a solid option for fantasy this season.
Tre Harris
Injury: Undisclosed Injury
Analysis: Harris has been dealing with "tightness" of an unspecified body region. Most likely, this is a lower-body muscle strain, but we do not know which muscle. All of the lower body muscles have somewhat high recurrence rates, but with this being described just as "tightness," it's likely minor. Of note, Harris has a history of groin injuries.
Quentin Johnston
Injury: Concussion
Analysis: Johnston continues to progress through the NFL's concussion protocol. We will check in ahead of week 1.
Cedric Tillman
Injury: Thumb Injury
Analysis: Tillman is dealing with a minor thumb injury but is expected to be ready for week 1. A thumb injury can impact his ability to catch, but if it truly is minor, he should be feeling good enough and have regained enough strength and dexterity by week one that it won't be an issue.
Jayden Blue
Injury: Lateral Ankle Sprain
Analysis: Blue suffered a low (lateral) ankle sprain in the preseason finale. Running backs average missing just over 1 week and see hardly any drop-off in fantasy production. The bad news, however, is that recurrence rates are 29%. Blue has an opportunity to be productive in a shallow Dallas backfield.