Antonio Brown injury: What status means for Week 17 fantasy football

Update: Brown took off his uniform and went to the locker room before the end of the third quarter today vs. the Jets. You can see the video and more details on the situation here.

Game day update: Brown is officially active and has multiple cash incentives to put up a good game this week.

Game day update: Brown is expected to play on Sunday afternoon against the New York Jets. The team had their doubts that the veteran receiver would play, but he practiced on Saturday and barring a setback today, he should be ready to go, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers head north to take on the New York Jets in a Week 17 matchup. Tampa Bay may have to play without Antonio Brown who is questionable for the game with an ankle injury.

Brown started the week as a limited participant in practice, but then the worst happened. It appears he may have aggravated the injury because he did not participate in practice on Thursday and Friday. If you look at the rest of the Bucs injury report, there were a number of veterans who got the days off for rest, but Brown was specifically listed with the ankle injury.

Fantasy football impact: Antonio Brown (ankle)

Despite the perception of the Jets as a bad team, they are actually pretty strong when it comes to limiting wide receivers in fantasy. They are giving up the seventh-fewest fantasy points per game to the position. Now, if Brown was healthy you would likely be starting him just because it seems like the connection between him and Tom Brady is hard to beat.

That being said, with his ankle injury and the downgrade in practice, you have to question whether to play him or not. For me, it is too risky with how important the ankle is to a receivers’ cuts and explosiveness that I can’t trust Brown if he is active. We have seen the Bucs use decoy receivers before, and they could it again this week with Brown if he plays. SIT him out of caution.