Week 17 NFL Fantasy Injury Report: Return of The Gronk 

The final week of the 2012 NFL regular season is upon us, which means the end of your long 17-week fantasy football seasons (although few and far between), is here, as well.

We’re still here, too. We want to leave no fantasy owner behind, and we’re here to do our best to get your league’s trophy in your hands when all is said and done. A great start to the week is to run through all the injuries with status updates and analysis. Here is your week 17 injury report:

Carson Palmer, QB, Oakland Raiders (Ribs)

He’s out with cracked ribs. Terrelle Pryor gets the start. Some upside, but some major risk there for sure.

Nick Foles, QB, Philadelphia Eagles (Hand)

Foles is on IR with a broken hand. It’s the return of Michael Vick, which could be awesome or blah.

Greg McElroy, QB, New York Jets (Head)

McElroy is out with concussion symptoms, so it’s on to Tim Tebow…wait…nope…back to Mark Sanchez. What?

Arian Foster, RB, Houston Texans (Heart)

Foster’s heart is fine and he’ll play today as the Texans chase down the #1 overall seed in the AFC. I don’t expect him to finish the entire game, though.

Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee Titans (Ankle)

CJ2k will play today against a pretty soft Jaguars defense. He has major potential to cap the season on a high note.

Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars (Foot)

MJD is on injured reserve and his top backup, Montell Owens, is inactive today. That makes Keith Toston and Richard Murphy your main men in Jacksonville this week.

Pierre Thomas, RB, New Orleans Saints (Knee)

Thomas is out despite having a good game last week. Darren Sproles, Chris Ivory and Mark Ingram will split time on the field in week 17.

Jonathan Stewart, RB, Carolina Panthers (Ankle)

Stewart is out today with a bad ankle. DeAngelo Williams is a great Flex play if not a suitable RB2 in his place. Mike Tolbert also has Flex value in deeper leagues, but needs touchdowns to have any value.

Roddy White, WR, Atlanta Falcons (Knee)

White will start today to keep his consecutive games started streak going, but don’t expect much out of him. Harry Douglas is an interesting sleeper with White at less than 100%.

Jordy Nelson, WR, Green Bay Packers (Hamstring)

Nelson is listed as probably and is looking like a safe bet to return in week 17. He has a solid matchup with the Vikings and could make up for lost time if Randall Cobb is out.

Randall Cobb, WR, Green Bay Packers (Ankle)

Cobb is questionable to face the Vikings today, and looks to come down to the final minutes for a final call. He’s a risky play with the injury, so you may want to look for a suitable alternative.

Mike Wallace, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers (Hip)

60 Minutes is out, giving Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders more run this week against the Browns.

Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots (Arm)

The Gronk is active for week 17 but is not expected to have a huge role. Still, even a small role could land him a touchdown or two.

Vernon Davis, TE, San Francisco 49ers (Head)

Davis hasn’t officially been ruled out for week 17 yet, but it doesn’t look good for him to play. Davis has been awful for weeks anyways, so look elsewhere for your tight end option this week.

Heath Miller, TE, Pittsburgh Steelers (Knee)

Miller is on IR with a torn acl. No Steelers tight ends are worth chasing this week.

Owen Daniels, TE, Houston Texans (Hamstring)

Daniels is less than 100% but will still play today as Houston aims for the top seed in the AFC playoffs.

Other Notes:

The Ravens have declared Anquan Boldin out and quarterback Joe Flacco is expected to only play a series or two today.

Ahmad Bradshaw and Hakeem Nicks are both starting for the Giants against the Eagles.