#81 Make Sure You Stash Devontae Booker 🧳

We’re finally back to a “normal” day in the NFL news cycle. The main thing I’m monitoring is a bunch of injury situations that could, dare I say, flip the slate on its head. Here’s everything I’m paying attention to today…

• I’ll post the full injury rundown below, though I’ll point out a few of the trickier situations... D’Andre Swift emerged from the concussion protocol, but then missed practice on Thursday with an illness. This article paints the Swift situation in a more serious light than those practice designations would indicate. I doubt he plays this week...Josh Jacobs continues not to practice this week. Make sure you are stashing Devontae Booker...The Dolphins backfield is one to monitor. DeAndre Washington missed practice yesterday, Salvon Ahmed was limited, and Myles Gaskin has been practicing but hasn’t officially been activated to the 53-man roster. Gaskin would be a great play if active vs. the Bengals, and if not, Ahmed would look pretty nice. Btw, Brian Flores said Tua Tagovailoa (thumb) is going to be a game-time call and that he won’t name the starter until Sunday. Thanks, I hate it. 

• Josh Gordon has been reinstated by the NFL. He won’t be eligible to play until the final two games of the season, but all that matters is the rest of us getting to daydream about the slight possibility Gordon and DK Metcalf terrorizing defenses together. 

• If you’re not on Twitter you might have missed the rumored Matt Patricia burner account. It turned out too good to be true (““Coach Patricia does a great job managing injuries when he’s allowed input”!), but here’s the story behind it. 

• Correlations are an important aspect of DFS tournament strategy. I did a deep dive on the subject with Stewart Gibson from Advanced Sports Analytics on my channel earlier today. 

• I highly recommend watching this two-part series about Hayden Hurst’s struggles with depression and the work he’s doing to break the stigma surrounding it. Part 1 & Part 2. 

• JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool hold the social media crown, but what other pairs of teammates could give them a run for their money? We discussed it with Sal Vetri on the Splash Play pod yesterday, along with our favorite plays for Week 13. 

• Full injury rundown from Thursday practices:

DNP: Deebo Samuel (hamstring), Nelson Agholor (ankle), Josh Jacobs (ankle), Kenny Golladay (hip), Hayden Hurst (ankle), D’Andre Swift (illness), Jonnu Smith (knee), Todd Gurley (knee), A.J. Brown (hip; maintenance), Daniel Jones (hamstring), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (illness), DeAndre Washington (shoulder), Julio Jones (hamstring), Irv Smith (back), 

Limited: Chris Carson (foot), Cam Newton (abdomen), Breshad Perriman (shoulder), Philip Rivers (toe), Michael Thomas (ankle), Alvin Kamara (foot), Zach Ertz (ankle), Calvin Ridley (foot/ankle), DJ Chark (ribs), Dalvin Cook (ankle), Salvon Ahmed (shoulder), Jerry Jeudy (ankle), Phillip Lindsay (knee)

See ya Sunday. 

Justin Freeman asked on Twitter if you can remember the first article you ever got paid to write. Matthew remembers his: “It had a reference to JLo and it got me fired from Fox Sports.” I didn’t get paid to write my first fantasy article, but it appeared on Rotoviz back in 2016 (“4-Year-Old Hayden Stanwick: The Overlooked Gem Of The 2033 Draft Class).” I wonder what Hayden is up to these days. Prolly crushing 3rd grade. 

- Peter Overzet