Week 3 Fantasy Injuries Recap: Limbo for CeeDee Lamb, Mike Evans, Terry McLaurin, but James Conner's season over

Griffin Missant

Week 3 Fantasy Injuries Recap: Limbo for CeeDee Lamb, Mike Evans, Terry McLaurin, but James Conner's season over image

As if fantasy football players weren't already facing many injury problems heading into Week 3, numerous major names face uncertain futures after. 

Here are all the notable players to suffer an injury in Week 3, and their current status for Week 4. 

📰 SUNDAY RECAP: What happened in fantasy Week 3

Top Fantasy Week 3 injuries to monitor

CeeDee Lamb, WR, Cowboys (ankle)

Luckily for Ceedee Lamb, it's not a serious injury as it relates to his season and career. However, it's still not an ideal situation. 

Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Lamb suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 3 against the Chicago Bears. This happened in the opening quarter of the game; Lamb would try to return, but ultimately could not stay out there. 

The timetable for this injury to heal depends solely on how severe the sprain was. A Grade I is 1-3 weeks, while a Grade III is 6-8 weeks. This does not mean Lamb would miss 8 weeks, more so how long the injury would potentially bother him. 

Lamb can publicly state that he feels he'll "absolutely" be able to take the field in Week 4. Maybe that's true, but it's important to monitor any setbacks during the week that could result in limited snaps or missing the week altogether.  

Any absence obviously leaves a huge hole in the Cowboys' offense.

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James Conner, RB, Cardinals (ankle)

This was one of the more horrendous injuries of the weekend. James Conner suffered a season-ending right ankle injury in Week 3 against the 49ers. 

Conner was carted off the field and immediately ruled out for the game. There's no surprise that Conner will have surgery that will wrap up his 2025 season. 

However, with the age of Conner, combined with how bad the injury looked, you don't just think about season-ending, but possibly career-ending. 

Trey Benson will look to take over as the RB1 in this Cardinals offense going forward, with Emari Demercado and Bam Knight acting in complementary roles.

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Mike Evans, WR, Buccaneers (hamstring)

Death, taxes, and Mike Evans hamstring injuries: It's incredibly frustrating that such a dominant WR continues to deal with these sorts of injuries. Evans left the fourth quarter of Week 3 with a hamstring injury and would not return. 

We're pretty used to Evans tweaking his hamstring and missing a limited amount of time. However, especially given that he's 32 years old, injured reserve might wind up as a possibility.

Head coach Todd Bowles claimed after the game that it was simply a tweak, but we are still awaiting the MRI results. Hopefully, it is just a tweak and Evans will just miss a week or two, but it's sounding like he'll definitely miss time. 

Terry McLaurin, WR, Commanders (quadriceps)

Terry McLaurin sustained a quad injury after a 56-yard catch in Week 3. This came after he attempted to extend for the goalline late in the third quarter. 

McLaurin was easily having his best game of the season -- ironically with Marcus Mariota as the starting QB replacing Jayden Daniels (knee). The volume was not there, but he caught 3 passes for 74 yards and narrowly missed scoring a touchdown. 

McLaurin seemingly looked fine afterwards, but was later ruled out. There could be a correlation with how badly the Commanders were beating the Raiders; there was no point in McLaurin returning. 

This injury will be one to monitor all week, especially how much McLaurin participates in practice. 

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Najee Harris, RB, Chargers (torn Achilles)

This injury was heartbreaking after Najee Harris worked so hard to make it back for the season following his eye injury in July.

It was immediately a guess that Harris had suffered a serious Achilles injury; he's going to miss the remainder of the season. 

The injury came just before a handoff. Harris went down right as he went to explode off his back foot. There was no contact, and the video is quite clear that it was indeed a torn Achilles. 

Omarion Hampton will once again be the lead back in this offense, though the Chargers will promote either Hassan Haskins or Kimani Vidal to the RB2. 

More fantasy injuries to watch before Week 4

  • Tyrone Tracy Jr, New York Giants (shoulder): Tracy suffered this shoulder injury late in the first quarter. Cam Skattebo looked fantastic in his absence as well. 
  • Mac Jones, San Francisco (knee): Jones suffered a PCL sprain in the preseason and re-aggravated it after a big hit in Week 3. 
  • Dyami Brown, Jacksonville Jaguars (shoulder): Brown got lit up on a screen play and left the game with a shoulder injury; he would not return.
  • Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts (concussion): Pierce was having a solid day before he suffered a concussion; he'll look to clear the protocol before Week 4. 

Griffin Missant

Griffin Missant joined The Sporting News in 2025 as a fantasy football intern. He graduated from Grand Valley State University, where he covered the Lakers football program. He has also worked for Sleeper and the Fantasy Trade Room. He has played fantasy for over a decade, and has been passionate about fantasy football ever since.