A full slate of games, rounding into the final bye week of the season.
This was a very light week for injuries, which is good news all around. Still, there were a few, with Tokyo being the playoff team most impacted.
#BEI
The Red Stars welcome back Lee Roy Selmon after a lengthy hiatus, but lose the services of Ordell Braase for the rest of the season.
#CTO
Cape Town is out of the playoff race, but they will be without punter/kick return specialist Chuck Latrourette for the rest of the year. Latourette was 0th in the league in punting average at a respectable 45.3, but was leading the league with a 32.3 average and over 2,000 yards on kickoff returns, making it a big miss for the Makana. Drew Butler takes over on punts with Tommy Mason and Cordarrell Patterson splitting the return duties.
#IST
On the good side, even Istanbul avoided severe injuries this week. In less good news, Mean Joe Greene will miss at least a week.
#LOM
P Johnny Hekker and DB Lamarcus Joyner will both miss the rest of the season, with Michael Palardy and Pierre Desir coming onto the roster as replacements. Hekker is the bigger loss, as he has been one of the top 5 punters in the league all season.
#SYD
The Great White trade DBs for the week, with Troy Vincent coming back from injury, but Malcolm Jenkins missing out.
#TOK
Tokyo continues to be buried by injuries: LB Ian Gold, OLs Jim Tyrer and Michael Roos, and RB Carlos Hyde are all out, with only Gold having a shot at returning to action in the postseason. Reserve OL Jerry Sturm and waiver pickup John Williams are likely to be pressed into action, and Ronnie Hillman was added to the roster at RB. The TOP FIVE OLBs on Tokyo’s depth chart are all out injured, with the team now turning to Larry Morris and Tyus Bowser.