This column is meant to offer our best predictions on what players will/will not play, as of 9 AM ET on Sunday. For the official active/inactive reports, please see our Latest NFL Player News.
Heading into the 2020 season, it was clear some weeks would be more unpredictable than others on the COVID front. Needless to say, Week 12 is a stark reminder of such. The NFL has been jolted with coronavirus outbreaks of varying degree nearly every day this past week, with the two most affected teams, the Steelers and Ravens, already seeing their Thanksgiving Night showdown rescheduled twice. Additionally, the more traditional injury bug hasn't taken the holiday weekend off, hitting quarterbacks particularly hard and also affecting some prominent names at other positions. To balance things out, there are also multiple notable returns from injured reserve, leaving us with a barrage of news to dive into on this Sunday morning:
QUARTERBACKS
The Bengals' Joe Burrow (knee) was placed on injured reserve Monday after he suffered a torn ACL, MCL and additional ligament damage on a sack in a Week 11 loss to Washington. The first overall pick's absence undoubtedly creates a huge vacuum in what had been an aggressive, pass-heavy offense that had particularly enhanced the Fantasy value of fellow rookie Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. Both players, along with veteran A.J. Green, will now catch passes from Brandon Allen, who was named the Week 12 starter against the Giants after fellow second-year signal-caller
