Teams have begun reporting to training camp, and while it’s common to see some minor bumps and bruises as the players work to get back to top speed. It’s very rare to see two players at the top of their respective positions both end the day with injuries. However, that’s exactly what happened on Thursday, July 27th, as both Garrett Wilson and Joe Burrow went down with an injury. Let’s determine the impact these injuries have on the stars hit by injuries.
Stars Hit by Injuries- Garrett Wilson
Wilson was looking to take a massive step forward this year. The Jets aggressively traded for future hall-of-fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers back in April. Wilson saw his stock rise at that point, being viewed as a top-ten receiver with some seeing him as high as WR5. However, Wilson appeared to leave practice on Thursday with an injury. He was seen limping away from the play and hobbled off the practice field to the locker room. He did not return.
Head coach Robert Saleh did say that Wilson was getting checked out and all indications are that he’s going to be ok. From a fantasy standpoint, this is a situation to monitor. Wilson and Rodgers looked to be building a strong connection throughout camp, but that connection looks to be on pause. Wilson eases his way back onto the practice field before they can work on their rapport. If Wilson were to be out a substantial amount of time, it would be a major blow for a team that has already had to temper expectations. Star running back Breece Hall, was already placed on the PUP list to begin training camp. As for other Jets’ offensive options, it’s a way for Mecole Hardman and Allen Lazard to gain more experience with a new playbook.
Stars Hit by Injuries- Joe Burrow
Burrow ended last season as the QB4 in fantasy. His play forced him into the conversation as a potential top-three quarterback in the league. During practice Thursday, he went down with a non-contact injury and had to be carted off the field. Several Bengals reporters are saying it looks to be a calf strain and could limit the quarterback short-term to just a day-to-day scenario. The worst-case scenario is that it could be an Achilles injury, as evident in the video of when the injury occurred.
If Burrow is seriously injured, the next man up is Trevor Siemian. Siemian is currently playing on his fifth team in five years. If this were to occur, Ja’Marr Chase’s talent alone should continue to propel him to a WR1 season. However, expect all other Bengals receivers to see a major drop in their production until the return of Burrow. As of now, it looks like Burrow should only be day-to-day for the next week of training camp. After that, coaches are hopeful he is able to return to the team fully recovered from his calf strain. Still, it’s always a scary situation when a star player is carted off. Burrow fantasy owners should keep an eye on any future updates coming out of Cincinnati.
Head over to the League Winners Rankings page to see our analyst’s rankings for both players for 2023 and beyond.
Randy Vuxta
Randy Vuxta (@RandallVuxta) is a beat writer covering sports picks and dynasty/redraft content for The League Winners with a little over a decade playing fantasy football. Before joining the staff, he studied Journalism and Sports Business management and created The Randy Report, a YouTube channel dedicated to covering all things sports. When he’s not watching game film or the latest Marvel release, he can be found on Twitch streaming everything from Spider-Man to NBA2K. Randy looks to not only win every league he joins, but help others achieve that goal as well.