NFL Injury Report Week 3: AJ Brown and Deebo Samuel dealing with niggling lower-body injuries

Inside Injuries' Greg Scholz addresses some of the most pressing injury concerns heading into Week 3 of 2024 fantasy football.

Before we dive deeper, here is a quick glossary of terms commonly used by Inside Injuries:

• IRC = Injury Risk Category (three labels: “Low”, “High”, “High”) – the overall probability that a player will be injured
• HPF = Health Performance Factor (Highest, Above Average, Below Average, Poor) – our metric for predicting player performance
• LOCATION = Optimal recovery time – the time it takes for a player to fully recover from an injury (not the same as the time they will actually miss).

AJ Brown, WR, PHI

After missing Week 2 with a hamstring strain, Brown is currently expected to miss even more time. Currently, his optimal recovery time is around 21 days, so there is a chance he can avoid IR. However, don't expect him to play in Week 4 either.

Hamstring strains have taken a toll on the seasons of some of the NFL's best players – and will continue to do so. Part of it is that these players, like Brown, are explosive in their style of play. The other part can be attributed to the condition of the thigh muscles. These muscles take a long time to heal because as humans we use our legs constantly. Therefore, it is difficult to adequately minimize the load on the thigh muscles. Furthermore, it's not like we can put the hamstring in a cast or boot like we could with an ankle. Add all of that together and you get long recovery times with a high risk of re-injury.

Brown's injury risk will be high for the remainder of the season and his health performance factor should peak again around Week 8.

Deebo Samuel, WR, SF

Similar to the hamstring muscles, the calf muscles can be more difficult to treat if injured due to their strain. However, there are some options that work well to immobilize the muscle and allow strains to heal. However, this is not perfect. The calf is in close proximity to the Achilles tendon – a structure that is crucial to the vast majority of lower body athletic movements. If the calf is injured, it is best to pay special attention to the Achilles tendon.

As for Samuel, there are no reports that the 49ers are concerned about his Achilles. While this is great news at the moment, there were no reports of concern about his Achilles tendon when Christian McCaffrey was diagnosed, but it still became an issue.

We are monitoring Samuel closely, but until we receive further information, his optimal recovery is approximately 18 days. His injury risk will be high in the first few weeks, but his health performance factor should peak upon his return.

Cooper Kupp, WR, LAR

Initial reports indicate that Kupp's ankle sprain is not season-ending and will not require surgery. According to the video, he is dealing with a sprained ankle. This means that the ligaments on the inside of the ankle are sprained. Eversion sprains generally take longer to heal because the affected ligaments are stronger and thicker and therefore require more time to heal to 100%.

This is another lower body injury for Kupp, so the risk of injury continues to increase. This doesn't necessarily increase his optimal recovery time, which is currently around 25 days, but it does mean his injury risk will remain high for the majority of the season. His Health Performance Factor will return to peak levels over time, but it is possible that his playing style will change in some way to avoid future injuries.

Isiah Pacheco, RB, KC

To address concerns up front, we expect Pacheco to play again this season. However, this statement is somewhat misleading as a return will certainly come later in the season.

Fibula fractures rarely require surgery, but Pacheco did. This means the fracture likely occurred above the ankle joint. From a performance perspective, this type of fracture is about long-term stability of the ankle. The surgery likely required a plate to be inserted into his ankle to address these concerns.

As for a return, it's possible he returns to practice around Week 10, but his health performance factor isn't expected to peak again until the end of the season. A lot of rehab is required with fractures like this, and Pacheco will need a lot of work to get back to his pre-injury level.

Joe Mixon, RB, HOU

Mixon (ankle) didn't practice on Thursday, which ultimately isn't that surprising. We expect him to miss Week 3 and possibly Week 4 as well. Allowing Mixon to return to the game against Chicago in Week 2 – he suffered the ankle injury on a hip-drop tackle by Bears LB TJ Edwards in the third quarter – was not a good decision because it increased his recovery window. Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, Mixon should return to peak HPF around Week 6 and his injury risk should drop from high to elevated around Week 7.

Nico Collins, WR, HOU

Collins landed on the injury report before Wednesday's practice with two lower-body injuries (hip and foot). However, he was only able to participate to a limited extent on Thursday, so everything seems to be going in the right direction.

Without a lot of information about the injuries and no obvious plays on which the injuries occurred, we don't have much to say. Both injuries sound like they are soft tissue related, which is a good thing. Two lower body injuries are cause for concern. In these moments we begin to examine whether the injuries might be related or if there is something going on beneath the surface.

For now, we're assuming Collins will play in Week 3. His injury risk will be increased and his health performance factor will be above average (this will rise to the top range if he is able to fully participate on Friday).

DK Metcalf, WR, SEA

Concerns about Metcalf were put to rest fairly quickly after he fully participated in Thursday's practice. This came just a day after he missed practice on Wednesday due to a hand injury.

Given the timing of the injury report, his injury risk is still considered elevated for Week 3, although on the lower end. This means that his health performance factor will be at its peak.

Tua Tagovailoa, QB, MIA

In recent seasons, concussions have been a major point of discussion. And for good reason – concussions are serious injuries that look scary on TV, and there are a variety of short- and long-term side effects that need to be considered.

When it comes to the discussion of Tua's retirement, we will not speculate. If he decides to return to the NFL this season, his health performance factor will peak around Week 7. However, head injuries vary greatly and it is very difficult to predict how someone will recover from one. His risk of injury will be high for the rest of the season.

(Top photo by AJ Brown: Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)