Week 12 NFL Injury Report: Fantasy Football Implications

The NFL picks up after a Thursday of big Thanksgiving football as week 12 rolls on. Thanksgiving is the biggest Thursday of football all season long with three separate games. Given the amount of talent involved, some people have likely had at least half their roster play already. Nonetheless, there are a lot of important injury status updates as Sunday gets going.

Big names are potentially returning on Sunday, including fantasy regulars Andre Johnson and Joseph Addai. Michael Vick is listed as questionable, but is not expected to return for another week, likely leaving Vince Young as the Eagles starting quarterback. Jeremy Maclin is listed as doubtful for the Eagles, leaving VY short a weapon.

The big out this week is Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was downgraded from doubtful to out over the week. Peterson is dealing with what has been reported as a high ankle sprain. Although Peterson thought he might play this weekend, reality settled in and he was ruled out.

For those wondering, the designations break down as follows:

Out: 0% change of playing
Doubtful: 25% chance of playing
Questionable: 50% chance of playing
Probable: 75% chance of playing

For fantasy purposes, you can almost always assume a probable player can be slotted into your lineup. I would be somewhat shocked if any of those Probable players ended up inactive this Sunday barring any news tonight or tomorrow. Questionable players on the other hand put you in a tough position. At least half if not more of these guys will play, but you will likely find yourself waiting on a "game-time decision" for most of them. It is not a problem for 1:00pm ET starts, but the 4:05 and 4:15pm ET starts, it can become a pain in the butt setting your lineup. For those I simply suggest trying to slot them into your flex position (if you have one) so you have some flexibility between running backs and wide receivers (and maybe even tight ends).

This Sunday we'll have final updates for all of these players so check back then. And of course, feel free to tweet us @sbnationfantasy with any sit/start questions you might have.

OUT

QB Jason Campbell, Raiders
QB Jay Cutler, Bears

RB Ahmad Bradshaw, Giants
RB Fred Jackson, Bills
RB Darren McFadden, Raiders
RB Adrian Peterson, Vikings

WR Malcom Floyd, Chargers
WR Jacoby Ford, Raiders
WR Donald Jones, Bills

TE Dallas Clark, Colts

K Rian Lindell, Bills

DOUBTFUL

WR Jeremy Maclin, Eagles

TE Donald Lee, Bengals

QUESTIONABLE

QB Kevin Kolb, Cardinals
QB Michael Vick, Eagles

RB Joseph Addai, Colts
RB Montario Hardesty, Browns
RB Peyton Hillis, Browns
RB Taiwan Jones, Raiders
RB Ladanian Tomlinson, Jets

WR Danario Alexander, Rams
WR Deion Branch, Patriots
WR Michael Clayton, Giants
WR Anthony Gonzalez, Colts
WR Percy Harvin, Vikings
WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, Raiders
WR Mario Manningham, Giants
WR Denarius Moore, Raiders
WR Legedu Naanee, Chargers
WR Chad Ochocinco, Patriots
WR Donte' Stallworth, Redskins

TE Todd Heap, Cardinals
TE Visanthe Shiancoe, Vikings

K Dan Carpenter, Cowboys

PROBABLE

QB Andy Dalton, Bengals
QB Matt Hasselbeck, Titans
QB Tarvaris Jackson, Seahawks
QB Colt McCoy, Browns
QB Christian Ponder, Vikings
QB Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers
QB Mark Sanchez, Jets

RB James Casey, Texans
RB Shonn Greene, Jets
RB Ryan Mathews, Chargers
RB Willis McGahee, Broncos
RB LaRod Stephens-Howling, Cardinals
RB Beanie Wells, Cardinals

WR A.J. Green, Bengals
WR Devin Hester, Bears
WR Desean Jackson, Eagles
WR Andre Johnson, Texans
WR Steve Johnson, Bills
WR Julio Jones, Falcons
WR Santana Moss, Redskins
WR David Nelson, Bills
WR Ben Obomanu, Seahawks
WR Austin Pettis, Rams
WR Sidney Rice, Seahawks
WR Emmanuel Sanders, Steelers
WR Wes Welker, Patriots

TE Antonio Gates, Chargers
TE Owen Daniels, Texans
TE Tony Gonzalez, Falcons
TE Ben Watson, Browns