Taking a look at the CeeDee Lamb injury update for your Week 4 fantasy football decisions.
NFL Week 4 was a big week for injuries across the league, in which none were probably bigger than Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. We will let you know the latest news on the injury and the fantasy expectations if he plays or doesn’t play.
CeeDee Lamb Injury Update: Likely Out Week 4
The CeeDee Lamb injury (ankle) led to him being a non-participant at Thursday’s practice, according to sources around the league.
He has been sidelined this week due to the high ankle sprain he got early in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears. Lamb did try to come back in for a little bit against the Bears, but he only managed another play or two before he limped back off the field for good. After the game, he said he would be able to go for Week 4 against the Green Bay Packers. However, a high ankle sprain is typically a three or four-week injury, and owner Jerry Jones did not rule out IR earlier this week.
From a fantasy standpoint, if Lamb is out, expect the Cowboys’ passing game to shift to George Pickens and Jake Ferguson. You could also expect Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin to have bigger roles if Lamb is out for multiple weeks as well. We saw last week that Dak Prescott really force-fed the ball to Ferguson, as he finished with 13 receptions for 82 yards. This was good for 21.2 points in a PPR-scoring fantasy league. Pickens’ fantasy value could rise into the WR1 range as well. He finished with 17.8 points in Week 2 after posting five catches for 68 yards and a touchdown. That is two straight weeks Pickens has posted those numbers. Of course, check out our Week 4 fantasy football rankings before setting your lineups!
If Lamb does play this week, it is hard to sit him because he is extremely talented, but I would lower my expectations if you do start him. He very well could be on a snap count, and it is going to be harder for him to get in and out of routes with his ankle injury.
The bright side is this isn’t a season-long injury for Lamb. But the timeframe for the injury could be a little tricky. They have a bye in Week 10, so theoretically, he should be back before the bye week, given the typical recovery time of under a month. However, if the injury is a little worse than originally stated, the Cowboys could hold him out for a little longer, which pushes their bye week into play.
We will wait to see his status on Friday and if he is on the injury report going into the weekend. If he logs even a limited practice, I would think there is a chance he suits up on Sunday night. But if he doesn’t practice for the third time this week, I wouldn’t expect him to play. You do hope the Cowboys rule him out early enough, though, so you have options on who to replace him with in your starting lineup. But this being the Sunday night, I don’t think I would want to risk him in my starting lineup.
