National Football League

Week 4 injury updates: Megatron, Charles, Foster, Marshall

Published Sep. 26, 2014 5:19 a.m. ET

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John Halpin

Only two fantasy takeaways from the Giants' 45-14 win over the Redskins on Thursday night. First, maybe we can now cool our jets on questions like, "Should I bench Aaron Rodgers for Kirk Cousins?" And secondly, if you own Fiants TE Larry Donnell, make sure to send him a nice gify basket this weekend. Oh, and I almost forgot: Rueben Randle (eight receptions, 89 yards) is NOT in the Federal Witness Protection Program.

In other news ...

Lions WR Calvin Johnson has not practiced yet this week due to an ankle injury. Otherwise, we don't know much. The only word from the team has basically been, "Yep, you're right, he's not practicing, and not practicing isn't as good as practicing." If Megatron misses today's practice, you can get worried.

Two Houston Chronicle beat writers think that Texans RB Arian Foster (hamstring) will play against the Bills. But, we thought Foster was going to play last week, and he didn't. Stay tuned.

Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles is expected to play Monday night after missing Week 3 with an ankle injury. However, check out this line from an AP story: "Even if he can play, there's a good chance that the Chiefs will limit the amount of touches that he gets, splitting snaps and carries with (Knile) Davis and the rest of their running backs." If you have Charles, you start him unless we hear some bad news over the weekend. If you own Davis, his status depends on your options. I've got him at RB34.

Bears WR Brandon Marshall didn't practice again Thursday due to an ankle injury. Friend of the blog Will Carroll said in this Tuesday video that rest is what Marshall really needs, but it's unclear if he'll get it this week. If Marshall is active, you probably start him against the Packers.

Falcons WR Roddy White says he's "ready to roll" after missing Week 3.

Bucs RB Doug Martin is ready to return to action after missing two games, but QB Josh McCown is unlikely to play due to a thumb injury. You might recall that backup Mike Glennon wasn't bad last season, so don't panic if you own Vincent Jackson. 

Remember your byes: The Cardinals, Bengals, Browns, Broncos, Seahawks and Rams are all OFF this week. That's a lot of quality running backs to replace.

Titans TE Delanie Walker (shoulder) was limited in Thursday's practice after sitting out Wednesday. The Titans say we might not know until Saturday if QB Jake Locker (wrist) can play, but things don't look good. If you're still scouting for a streaming defense, grabbing the Colts for a potential matchup with Titans backup QB Charlie Whitehurst sounds appealing.

Jets WR Eric Decker (hamstring) said on Thursday that he plans to practice Friday and play Sunday.

49ers TE Vernon Davis (knee, ankle) was limited in Thursday's practice, but it sounds like he'll play this week.

Raiders RB Maurice Jones-Drew (hand) is expected to play in London this week after missing Weeks 2 and 3.

Chargers TE Ladarius Green was limited in Thursday's practice due to a hamstring issue; the severity is unclear.

Bernard Pierce returns to crowd the Ravens' backfield this week. I like Lorenzo Taliaferro, but he could get five carries, or 15, or somewhere in the middle.

DeAngelo Williams, on the other hand, returns to a Panthers' backfield that will be without Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert. I've got Williams at RB23 due to an expected busy workload.

Here's a link to our weekly rankings. We'll update them Friday night.

Here's my tentative lineup for the DraftKings NFL Sunday Million. Let me know what you think.

QB: Drew Brees $9,300

RB: Le'Veon Bell $7,400

RB: Branden Oliver $3,500

WR: Dez Bryant $7,900

WR: Keenan Allen $5,300

WR: Marques Colston $4,800

TE: Travis Kelce $3,700

FLEX: Pierre Thomas $5,400

DST: Saints $2,700

Make sure to check out our Sunday morning chat, featuring Adam Meyer, Joel Beall and me from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. ET. Good luck this week!

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