Injury Report

Injury tags look precise and aren't. They describe a club's expectation when it filed the report, not a probability you can bank a lineup on. Here's how each maps to real availability.

Injured reserve means shelved for a stretch of games, not a week — treat him as gone until a return window surfaces, and use an IR slot if your league has one. PUP is the preseason cousin of IR: a player who couldn't pass a physical, with his own return rules. Neither is a lineup decision — both are roster moves.

Out is the one honest label on the list. He isn't playing. Doubtful is close behind — the overwhelming majority of doubtful players sit, so plan as if he's out and be pleasantly surprised. Questionable is where managers lose points, because it covers everything from a genuine coin flip to a veteran who was never in real danger of missing the game, and the tag alone can't separate the two. Anything else here means the roster feed reported a non-active status without an availability tag — verify that one yourself.

Practice reports are the real signal

Participation through the week tells you far more than the Friday tag does. A player who practises fully all week and still carries a questionable label is usually playing. One who was limited Wednesday, limited Thursday and out Friday is a bet you shouldn't make. The pattern that should scare you is a designation that gets worse as the week goes on, or a player who doesn't practise at all and gets tagged questionable anyway — that's a game-time decision dressed up as an expectation.

Two habits worth keeping. Roster a viable alternative anywhere your starter is tagged — a bench spot costs nothing next to a zero. And read the body-part column: injury type matters more than the label, since hamstrings and groins linger and re-aggravate even after a return, while a player back from a one-week ankle sprain is usually closer to himself. Before kickoff, believe your league's official status over any page on the internet, including this one.