Fantasy Football Morning Update: QB wasteland
Let's get right to all the injuries - starting with the quarterbacks - after pausing for just a few seconds to celebrate the night the Chiefs finally used Jamaal Charles properly ...
***
- Ben Roethlisberger's shoulder injury is being called a sprain, but that's pretty vague, and we should know more later today. At this point, figure that Byron Leftwich will start for the Steelers on Sunday night against the Ravens.
- The Eagles sound almost certain that Nick Foles will start against the Redskins in place of the concussed Michael Vick. Expect to hear the official decision on Vick before the weekend. Of all the backups that might play this week, Foles clearly has the best matchup. Some in Philly are speculating that Vick's Eagles career is over.
- The status of Bears QB Jay Cutler (concussion) for Monday's game in San Francisco is uncertain, but the Chicago media is clamoring for the team to play it safe and rest him. Jason Campbell would get the start if Cutler can't go.
- The 49ers say that Alex Smith's concussion symptoms are improving, but he'll have to pass the usual NFL-mandated tests before returning to practice. Colin Kaepernick, who ran for 66 yards and passed for 117 against the Rams in Week 10, will start if Smith is out. I'll do all my Week 11 rankings on Wednesday morning, but the order of the backups mentioned so far in today's post should be Kaepernick, Foles, Leftwich, Campbell. However, if you need to make a free-agent claim tonight, Foles is more of a lock to play than Kaepernick is.
- Your Week 11 byes teams are the Vikings, Giants, Seahawks and Titans, while Thursday's game is Dolphins-Bills.
- Speaking of Thursday night, with Bills RB Fred Jackson (concussion) out this week, C.J. Spiller is a must start. MUST.
- Packers WR Jordy Nelson practiced Monday, and appears on target to return after missing most of the last two games with an ankle injury. Teammate Greg Jennings (abdominal surgery) hopes to play again soon, but soon is an undefined target right now. Three weeks, maybe?
- The status of Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray (foot) for Week 11 is TBD. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the team wants Murray to be at full speed before returning. Let's see if he practices Wednesday.
- In other Cowboys news, did you know that TE Jason Witten has 58 receptions in his last six games? Wow.
- Raiders TE Brandon Myers suffered a concussion on Sunday, and his Week 11 status is TBD. In other Raiders news, the status of RB Darren McFadden (ankle) is TBD. One report surfaced Monday that McFadden was expected back this week, but a beat writer tweeted Monday that he was still in a walking boot. Did anyone here pick up Taiwan Jones for Week 10? Ugh.
- Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew (foot) "will probably" miss this week's game against the Texans, according to head coach Mike Mularkey. This isn't a surprise - let's hope MJD is back for Week 12.
- Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw - who played about half as many snaps as Andre Brown did against the Bengals on Sunday - will undergo tests this week for a neck injury. The Giants seemed to want to give Brown more work regardless of Bradshaw's injury, so this situation is getting interesting.
- Check out Mike Harmon's review of Week 10 red zone targets and touches when you get a chance. It's pretty helpful.
- The Titans want to throw to Kenny Britt more often. I think that's a good idea, but maybe that's because I own Britt on all my teams.
- Chris Givens' discipline-related deactivation on Sunday opened the way for a Brian Quick TD catch. However, since the Rams are throwing almost all their passes to Danny Amendola again, Quick isn't exactly a prime free-agent target.
- Attention, frustrated Ryan Mathews owners: Your guy had 22 touches on Sunday. I'm sticking with him, whether it wrecks my seasons or makes them great.
- Rex Ryan is sticking with Mark Sanchez. Amazingly, it's probably the right call.
- My pal Joel Beall will be in the FOXSports.com fantasy chat room today at 3 p.m. ET. Make sure to send questions!
See you back here Friday morning!

