News on Ja’Marr Chase, Christian Watson, and Zay Jones Impacting WR Rankings

It’s always a challenge to navigate through injuries in fantasy football. The WR position has several players dealing with issues. The time to set Week 10 lineups is near. What is the latest injury information on Ja’Marr Chase, Christian Watson, and Zay Jones?

Latest News and Injury Updates Impacting Fantasy

Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

It was an underwhelming outing for Ja’Marr Chase last Sunday night against the Bills. The Bengals won the game, but Chase didn’t really do much, catching four of eight targets for 41 yards. The eight targets were tied for a season-low.

Dud games happen. No one is actually concerned about Chase’s status as an elite WR1. The real concern stems from Chase leaping high to attempt to make a catch and falling hard on his back. Shortly after the play, Chase was seen on the sidelines getting treatment on his lower back.

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Chase remained in the game but said himself that it only got worse as the contest progressed. As a result, Joe Burrow keyed in on Tee Higgins as the Bengals salted the game away.

Currently, Chase is being listed as having a back injury, which is obviously no surprise. But we don’t have any specifics on what is actually wrong. Both Chase and head coach Zac Taylor have described it as soreness.

Chase did not practice on Wednesday. That is not yet cause for any concern, as Wednesday practices are largely meaningless. Chase is also the type of player who could go DNP-DNP-LP, draw a questionable tag, and play on Sunday.

While it’s too early to draw any conclusions, Chase has adopted a very cautious approach to injuries ever since his hip issue last season. If you recall the way he spoke about Burrow’s calf strain, he was championing Burrow sitting out and letting it heal rather than try and play through it. Based on Burrow’s early season performance, Chase was probably right.

After last week’s game, Chase was very selective with his words, emphasizing the importance of getting healthy.

While the Texans have been playing well, this is a game the Bengals can likely win at home without Chase. The injury doesn’t sound overly serious, and I would not expect Chase to miss more than one game. But if I had to hazard a guess right now, I would say the odds Chase misses this week are more likely than not.

The silver lining for fantasy managers is that the Bengals play at 1 p.m. ET. As a result, managers won’t have to speculate on Chase’s status and make decisions with limited information. We will know whether he is playing and able to act accordingly.

If Chase can’t go, Tyler Boyd would step into the all-too-familiar WR2 role, where he has excelled in the past (but not necessarily this season). In Week 5, with Tee Higgins absent, it was Trenton Irwin who stepped up to see 10 targets. He would be a desperation Flex option if Chase sits.

Christian Watson, WR, Green Bay Packers

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve written about a Christian Watson injury. The not-so-funny part is it’s never been the same one. So far, Watson has appeared in the injury report with a hamstring strain, knee sprain, chest issue, and back issue. He was also evaluated for a concussion last week but ultimately cleared.

Since returning from his hamstring strain that cost him the first three weeks of the season, Watson has not missed a game. This is despite leaving multiple games with injuries.

According to Rob Demovsky, Watson was practicing just fine on Wednesday. This is great news for Watson’s Week 10 status. Wednesday practices may be meaningless in terms of absences, but when injured layers actually participate, it is an extremely positive sign toward their gameday status.

Given that Watson got in a full practice, I have no concerns over Watson’s ability to play this Sunday. However, I have grave concerns over Watson’s playing ability.

I am very happy to see Watson on the field and healthy. That’s great for him. But he belongs miles away from fantasy lineups. With Jordan Love playing poorly and Watson unable to command targets, get open, or really do anything particularly effective on a football field, at the bare minimum, he belongs on fantasy benches. I wouldn’t mind seeing him on waiver wires, where I would happily leave him.

Zay Jones, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

One of the most mysterious injuries this season has been Zay Jones’ knee. He first hurt it back in Week 2. It is now Week 10, and the most detailed description we have is it’s a knee injury. That’s all we know.

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Jones missed Weeks 3 and 4 before returning in Week 5, aggravating the injury and not being able to play since. Last week, the latest update was that Jones might return after the bye and also might go on IR.

To start this week, Jones did practice on Wednesday. According to Adam Stites, Jones participated in individual drills, seemingly to test out his knee, before heading back inside. That doesn’t sound overly optimistic.

Fantasy managers who have been stashing Jones on and off their IR for weeks may have had to drop him. If you did, don’t feel bad. At this point, it does not appear likely Jones will play this week, and there’s a nonzero chance he won’t play again this season. Whatever Jones is dealing with, he can’t seem to shake it.

The Jaguars will continue funneling targets to Christian Kirk, Evan Engram, and Calvin Ridley. There is no WR3 on the Jaguars of any fantasy consequence.

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