Fantasy Football Cut-N-Go: Michael Bush May Still Play With Injured Thumb

Injuries in training camp. Injuries in preseason games. Ugh!

This is why I prefer to draft a fantasy football team as close as possible to the opening week of football. It gives less time for drafted players to get injured.

Those of you who grabbed Oakland's Michael Bush in the sixth or seventh round of recent drafts know exactly what I am talking about. In Saturday's game, Bush broke his thumb and was forced to see a specialist the following day. On Monday he underwent surgery to repair the damage.

There is, however, good news in all of this.

Jerry McDonald of the San Jose Mercury News says that Bush might not miss the season opener.

Running back Michael Bush will have a "procedure" on left fractured thumb. Not necessarily out of opener. Will have protection, not cast.

The Raiders have put a lock-down on the flow of injury information from their headquarters -- no one is sure exactly how the procedure went and what kind of protection the running back will have on his hand. It's probably safe to say that he won't be as effective in Week 1 as he normally would have been. But the fact that he's still thinking of playing means that you shouldn't temper your draft day expectations on him if your league hasn't drafted yet.

Bush is now solidly in the seventh round, maybe even an early eighth-round selection. But that's where he should have been anyway. The only difference now is that players like Fred Jackson, Ahmad Bradshaw and Cadillac Williams, who were usually taken right after Bush, should now be taken before him.

Knee Surgery, That's Crazy Talk
Jaguars Head coach Jack Del Rio told reporters on Monday that the internet rumors about Maurice Jones-Drew were just that, rumors. Jones-Drew did not have knee surgery, but he will sit out the final preseason game as a precaution.

"No," Del Rio said. "No, has not happened, is not necessary. He's working, rehabbing, strengthening and gearing up for the regular season."

Del Rio will not comment on the severity of his star running back's injured knee, but Jones-Drew is expected to play in Week 1.

Spiller Is Not the Man, Not Yet
To say that rookie C.J. Spiller has had an impressive preseason is an understatement. In three games he's rushed for 122 yards on 26 carries and scored three touchdowns. He's averaging 4.7 yards per carry and has even caught three passes too. But the Bills aren't ready to tag him with the starting running back moniker.

Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com says that head coach Chan Gailey hasn't made up his mind about the starter in his stable of running backs.

"We've got a long way to go yet," said head coach Chan Gailey. "We don't know how that's going to shake out yet. We've got the luxury of three pretty good backs. We'll make that decision when we get closer there. They may all be in there at the same time you never know on the first play of the game."

After AP It's a Timeshare That's No Day at the Beach
If Adrian Peterson goes down with any kind of injury -- and as an owner who has him on two of my three fantasy football teams, it hurts me to even write that -- the options for the Vikings will be Toby Gerhart and Albert Young.

If Minnesota is forced into that situation, Tom Pelissero of 1500ESPN.com says that the two backs would share carries in a time share.

"I think it'll be by week and who we're facing and what exactly we need out of a second running back," Childress said. "If you remember last year, there were numbers of games where we didn't have a third running back up, and from time to time, that'll happen when we need maybe another tight end up or need another rush guy. ... Those guys are (numbers) 2 and 2A."

Talk About Soaring Stock Prices
John McClain of the Houston Chronicle said that running back Arian Foster is going to be the "go-to" guy when the Texans are near the goalline. He also says that, if healthy, Foster will score 10 to 15 touchdowns.

I think Arian Foster, at 6-1, 227, is going to be good inside the 5. I've been telling people to take him in your fantasy league because they're going to get in the red zone a lot, and they're going to get inside the 5 a lot. I think Foster will score 10 to 15 touchdowns if he stays healthy.

The Cut-N-Go is back to keep you up-to-date on all the NFL news that affects the upcoming fantasy football season.