As always early in the season, the discrepancy between the teams getting hammered by injuries and those skating by is significant.
#BEI
Star TE Travis Kelce will miss close to 3 months, a big blow to a team struggling to get traction. RB Warrick Dunn will miss a couple games, but at least he’ll return in the near future.
#BER
Reserve DE Michael Johnson is out for a few months. Playing time should be distributed between Calvin Pace and newcomer Darren Howard.
#DUB
S Jermaine Whitehead is out for around 3 months. Dublin is skating thin in the defensive backfield, so look for newly drafted John Symank to see the field.
#IST
Some rough news for Istanbul, as new WR Crazy Legs Hirsch will miss about a month. More importantly, defensive rock Ray Lewis is out for around 4 months, a loss that will certainly be felt. Buddy Curry and Vince Williams should see more of the field in Lewis’ absence.
#LOM
Probably the biggest name to get hurt this week was Marshall Faulk, who is out for close to the rest of the regular season. Thurman Thomas should be back in about a week; in the meantime, look for Alex Webster, Marv Hubbard, and newcomer Todd Gurley to split the snaps.
#LON
Starting OLB DeMarcus Ware will miss a few weeks, with Bruce Scholtz and Terry Wooden looking to split his snaps.
#SFO
The Sea Lions continue to suffer on the injury front. Starting CB Darrell Green will miss about a month, and starting DE Justin Smith and reserve RB Devonta Freeman are out for around 2 months each. Tarell Brown should take over as the starter for Green, and Cameron Jordan provides a good alternative for Smith.
#SYD
Sydney’s OL took another hit, as Norm Evans joined Lane Johnson on the injury list, with each of them out most likely for the rest of the regular season.