This weekly series will provide you with in-depth analysis of key injuries and their resultant implications on fantasy football. This information comes straight from my perspective as a Physical Therapist and collegiate Athletic Trainer of ten years. Over that time, I have seen and treated almost every injury that can occur in this violent sport. Hopefully this piece gives you a little more insight into the anatomy of an injury.

Player: Donnie Avery
Injury: Bruised hip
Healing Time: Day-to-day
Impact on the Field: A bruised hip can be very painful. The medical term is hip pointer, and it occurs when the exposed hip bone receives a hard blow. Because there is no soft tissue between the bone and the skin, there is no padding to soften the impact. The surrounding muscles become engorged with blood and you typically get these wonderful-looking bruises. They are very sore, but the pain can be controlled with medicine. Avery’s role continues to grow and he is once again becoming a favorite target of Marc Bulger. He has game-changing speed, and he is running his routes more crisply. Expect him to be active for his Week 7 game.

Player: LenDale White
Injury: Knee injury
Healing Time: 2 weeks-Season
Impact on the Field: As mentioned in my previous columns, this type of knee injury is either meniscal or ligamentous. Optimistically, White will be out at least two weeks. The fact that he could not put weight on his leg indicates that the injury is probably more severe. If it is not his ACL, he will be back this year. If anything else was injured, it may be a while before you can play the tequila fan. Chris Johnson was already dominating the Titans carries, so White’s injury does little to impact that. I still think Johnson loses the goal line carries, but he is a must start week in and week out, without question.

Player: Anquan Boldin
Injury: High ankle sprain
Healing Time: 3-6 weeks
Impact on the Field: Another week, another injury for Boldin. He rolled his ankle in the second half and, with ice on his ankle and the game out of hand, there was no reason for him to return. Whenever Boldin has an injury, it’s never of the minor variety. He almost always misses multiple weeks. This is not the worst thing for the Cardinals offense. They possess the most talented group of receivers in the league. As always, with Boldin out, Fitzgerald will see his targets substantially increase, and Breaston becomes very startable. Warner’s value remains the same and the offense will remain potent. As for Boldin, look for him to miss at least two games.

Trent Edwards is day-to-day after suffering a concussion in Week 6.

Player: Trent Edwards
Injury: Concussion
Healing Time: 1 week
Impact on the Field: What a mess the Bills have become! With the addition of T.O., this was supposed to be a run-and-gun, no-huddle offense. Edwards got his bell rung last week and never returned to the game. It was a pretty good hit, and he was still woozy into Sunday night. Assuming he clears the cobwebs, I anticipate him taking snaps this weekend. Ryan Fitzpatrick did a better job of distributing the ball, but do you trust any of the Bills skill position players any longer? I don’t. Even if Edwards does not play, this injury does not really impact any of the Buffalo wide receivers or running backs.

Player: Percy Harvin
Injury: Bruised shoulder
Healing Time: 2-4 weeks
Impact on the Field: They are calling this injury a bruise, but my experience tells me that it is much more. Bruised shoulders do not cause the type of pain that Harvin was in. It does not look like a muscle strain either. It is more likely that he subluxed or dislocated his shoulder. If it was subluxed, the shoulder stretched out and went back into place. I should mention that I have not seen this reported anywhere and I don’t want to get Harvin fans worried; this is just an educated guess based on what I saw. The Vikings go to Pittsburg this week and I would bet Harvin gives it a go. I am not sure he will play the whole game, but he should be out there. I will revisit this injury later on when more information is released.

Player: Sammy Morris
Injury: Knee sprain
Healing Time: 2-6 weeks
Impact on the Field: Assuming this injury is not season-ending, the most likely scenario has him missing 2-6 weeks. As usual, the Patriots are not disclosing any information and I doubt you will hear anything anytime soon. And in the NFL, when one door closes, another one opens. Laurence Maroney will once again gets a chance to carry the ball with Morris missing a few games. Maroney had a nice game in the snow last weekend and was able to run through the large holes created by his offensive line. Maroney is talented in the open field, but he has problems creating his own space and taking what is there. If Tom Brady heats up and throws like he did last week, teams will have no choice but to protect against the pass. That scenario should create running lanes, and Maroney has the speed to take advantage of them. He should be an immediate waiver wire pickup.