Fantasy Football: Fred Jackson Injury (With A Side Of Garcon)

FredEx won't be making any deliveries soon
Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon
Don Brown, PT, DPT is a physical therapist with a ton of experience in sports injuries. Unlike most injury reports you find on the web from fantasy "experts," Don actually knows the human body and what it takes to come back from a wide range of injuries. His knowledge is vital to fantasy owners looking for real advice on players who are hurt, and you are very lucky to be getting these nuggets of gold from Mr. Brown. Say thank you.
Fred Jackson went down with a sprained LCL in the Bills' embarrassing opening week beating at the hands of the Jets. If you haven’t watched the tape, it’s pretty ugly looking, and he’s probably lucky he didn’t completely shred his knee. MRI results Monday were inconclusive, which isn’t uncommon so soon after an injury as the swelling in his knee clouds the image. The Bills have set an initial timetable of three-to-eight weeks for his return, with Coach Chan Gailey admitting that it will likely take longer than three, but hopefully less than eight weeks to get FredEx back in business.
The LCL is the ligament on the outside of the knee that provides stability. You put lots of stress on this area any time you make a cut or plant your feet, something an NFL running back does all game long. A sprain is technically a tear, the severity of which varies, but with the amount of swelling in the knee (so much so that the MRI was difficult to read) the damage is likely significant. It also would not surprise me if there’s a torn meniscus or additional damage as well that hasn’t been fully discerned on the MRI. The timeline for recovery can vary from two-to-12 weeks depending on the grade of the injury, so the vague timeline of three-to-eight weeks given by the Bills is reasonable given the current information.
So what’s a fantasy owner to do here? We'll tell you after the jump:









