Week 4 Injury Report: Jefferson, DeVonta Smith and Mayfield Are Out, and One of Those Helps a Starter

Five skill-position starters are out for today's games and eight more carry a questionable tag. Below is what each absence actually does to a lineup, with the positional matchup numbers that decide whether the replacement is a start or a hope.

The players who are out

Player	Team	Injury
Justin Jefferson, WR	Minnesota	Ankle
DeVonta Smith, WR	Philadelphia	Hamstring
Baker Mayfield, QB	Tampa Bay	Thumb
Breece Hall, RB	New York Jets	Quadriceps
Caleb Williams, QB	Chicago	Hamstring
Rachaad White, RB	Washington	Shoulder
Zach Charbonnet, RB	Seattle	Knee, day to day

Two more Seattle and Miami backfield notes, and the difference between them matters. De'Von Achane is on injured reserve, which is the designation that ends a fantasy season. Zach Charbonnet is listed out for this week and day to day, which is not the same thing at all. Hold Charbonnet. Achane is the one whose roster spot has become dead weight.

Correction, posted after publication: an earlier version of this paragraph said both players were done for the year. That was wrong about Charbonnet, who carries a week-to-week designation rather than an injured-reserve one. The error came from reading a knee notation in a feed as a new injury instead of the rehab history it describes.

The absence that helps somebody

Start Bucky Irving. Baker Mayfield being out is good news for Tampa Bay's running back, which sounds backwards until you look at the matchup. Green Bay has allowed 30.7 PPR per game to running backs, the most in the league. A team starting a backup quarterback in that spot runs the ball to protect him.

Irving has carried 8, 17 and 15 times, so the workload is already there. This was our favorite call of the week before the Mayfield news and it is a better one now.

The flip side is the Tampa Bay passing game. Their quarterback room behind Mayfield is a rookie and two career backups, and nobody has confirmed which of them starts. Emeka Egbuka has been the most productive receiver there with 13 catches on 20 targets, and he becomes a sit until we know who is throwing to him.

The absences that create a question, not an answer

Jordan Addison is a start, with tempered expectations. Jefferson being out makes Addison the clear number one in Minnesota, and his own trend was already climbing: 2, then 5, then 9 targets, with a 5 catch, 90 yard, one touchdown Week 3.

The catch is the opponent. Miami has allowed 24.2 PPR per game to wide receivers, 28th of 32. Addison should see the volume of a WR1 and the efficiency of a tough matchup. Start him, but if you were expecting Jefferson's production to simply transfer, it will not.

Dontayvion Wicks is the Philadelphia receiver to use. With DeVonta Smith out, Wicks is the top target in an offense that has now been held to 24, 24 and 7 points. He has produced on thin volume, with 73 and 74 yard games on 4 and 6 targets, and the Rams sit in the middle of the league against receivers at 29.4 per game, 20th. He is a reasonable flex, not a difference maker.

Braelon Allen is not the obvious Breece Hall replacement. This is the one most lists will get wrong. Hall being out points at Allen by default, but Allen's carries have gone the wrong way all season: 10, then 5, then 4. Isaiah Davis is also in that room, and Chicago has been unremarkable against running backs at 20.3 per game, 16th. Allen is a speculative start in deep leagues, not a plug-and-play.

Questionable, and worth checking before kickoff

• Zay Flowers, Baltimore (hamstring). He already missed Week 2 and put up 150 yards in Week 1. A hamstring on a receiver whose value is separation is the kind of tag that turns into a limited snap count even when he plays.
• Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers (foot). Seattle has allowed 23.8 PPR per game to receivers, 29th of 32. A bad matchup plus a foot injury is an easy sit.
• Jalen Coker, Carolina (quadriceps). He opened with 8 catches for 138 and 2 scores, then fell to 2 for 18. Tonight against Detroit is a good spot. The quad is the whole question.
• Mike Evans, San Francisco (ribs). Rib injuries for receivers tend to suppress contested catches specifically, which is most of his game.
• Tyjae Spears, Tennessee (ankle) and Ray Davis, Buffalo (hamstring) are both backfield tags that matter mostly for the other back in the room.
• Kenyon Sadiq, New York Jets (back). We listed him as a waiver add this week on a 7 catch, 105 yard Week 3. Hold rather than start until the designation clears.

One note on method

We got burned on Thursday for stacking a game total on top of a matchup read, so to be explicit: nothing above uses a point total as a reason to fade anyone. The calls are usage plus positional matchup, and where those two disagree, we have said so rather than picking the more confident sounding answer.

Inactives post 90 minutes before kickoff and they are the final word on every questionable above. Full injury designations are at ESPN, the positional matchup board is on our matchup ratings page, and the rest of this week's calls are in the Week 4 start/sit.