Fantasy Football Alert: Maurice Jones-Drew Likely Out Sunday

Fox Sports' Jay Glazer is reporting that, "barring a miraculous turnaround", Maurice Jones-Drew will miss this Sunday's home game against the Washington Redskins. The stud running back and consensus first-round pick hasn't practiced all week due to pain and swelling in his right knee. He'd been dealing with knee issues pretty much all season, but re-aggravated the injury two weeks ago.

For fantasy purposes, this obviously blows. But while heading into the championship game without one of your top producers certainly hurts, today's news is hardly unexpected. If you're a Jones-Drew owner and didn't insure yourself, shame on you. After seeing what Adrian Peterson owners went through last week, Rashad Jennings should've been on your roster days ago. If Jennings is still a free agent in your league, consider yourself very, very lucky.

For the Jones-Drew owners who didn't prepare for the worst and are unable to grab Jennings, Toby Gerhart, Brian Westbrook, Tashard Choice, Michael Bush, Donald Brown, and Danny Woodhead are still available in the majority of leagues. Those in deeper formats can take a look at Jason Snelling, John Kuhn, Ricky Williams, or Maurice Morris. They might not be great plays, but they're better than a zero.

If you don't own Jones-Drew but you're facing the guy who owns him, you should be racing to grab Jennings as well. Not only is Jennings a potential top-15 play against the Redskins defense this week -- and thus, a strong play for you -- but even if you don't need him, you'll block your opponent from grabbing him. And no, that's not "unethical"; it's the smart move. Plus, if you're in one of those crazy leagues that play until Week 17, a potential start against Houston doesn't look too shabby either.