Teams around the league today are assessing the damage from Week 3’s games, and in some cases the news is sobering. At Pro Football Rumors, we don’t cover every injury, but we’ll keep tabs on the major ones that could result in a player heading to injured reserve or in his team adding a replacement via free agency or trade. Here are the latest Monday updates on those major injuries from this week:
- According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Panthers running back Mike Tolbert has sustained a hairline fracture in his leg, while Jonathan Stewart has a sprained knee. Tolbert, who also has a bone bruise, won’t require surgery but may miss more than a month, a source tells Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). With DeAngelo Williams also banged up, expect the Panthers to add some help for the backfield this week.
Earlier updates:
- Like Jason Kelce, whose injury is noted below, Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph will undergo surgery for a sports hernia, reports Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter links). Rudolph is expected to miss about six weeks, which might make him a candidate for the injured reserve list with the designation to return.
- Saints center Jonathan Goodwin has been diagnosed with a high ankle sprain, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). While an MRI today will determine the severity of the injury, the team anticipates that Goodwin will miss time.
- As first reported by Howard Eskin of 94WIP Radio in Philadelphia (Twitter link), Eagles center Jason Kelce has a sports hernia injury and is expected to require surgery, writes Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. It’s the latest blow for an increasingly depleted Eagles line, which is already missing Evan Mathis and Allen Barbre and may require an outside addition, as both Eskin and McLane point out. McLane reports that Kelce could end up missing about two months.
- Lions head coach Jim Caldwell confirmed today that linebacker Stephen Tulloch will be placed on injured reserve after sustaining a torn ACL (Twitter link). As if the season-ending injury wasn’t bad enough, it happened while Tulloch was celebrating a sack of Aaron Rodgers by performing his version of the “Discount Double Check” act.
- Bills wideout and special-teams ace Marcus Easley has suffered a sprained MCL, and will likely be sidelined for four to six weeks, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. Buffalo has yet to use its IR-DTR spot, but Easley may not be a candidate for that designation, since he could return within a month.
- We rounded up some news on Steelers injuries earlier this morning.