Pro Football Doc, Dr. David Chao shares his analysis of key injuries and their chances of playing in Week 14.

Justin Herbert - Left hand

With the great splint and the buddy taping job they used yesterday, Justin Herbert is actually more secure for Monday night than he was on Sunday because the plates and screws eliminate the micro-motion. That’s why I’m optimistic he can play. The only reason for pessimism would be if the fracture is comminuted and feels unstable, creating a risk of displacement that might require additional surgery. Yesterday, if the fracture displaced further, it didn’t matter as much because surgery was already planned. You don’t want to expose Herbert to a second surgery if you can avoid it.

Why was he allowed to play without surgery? He likely had a nerve block that reduced discomfort, and the team knew surgery was coming anyway—so if it shifted slightly, they could fix it during the procedure. After surgery, though, you don’t want any further movement. That’s the balance of the situation. In summary, this is the type of insider medical perspective we provide, and I believe Justin Herbert is very likely to play next week.

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Amon-Ra St. Brown - Ankle

It’s a low-grade, not high-grade, high-ankle sprain, and I think his chances of playing are doubtful, especially on a short Thursday-to-Thursday week. No offense to Tom — I talked to him, and I fully respect him. He’s on it and his sources are accurate. But based on the video, I’m just reporting what I see with my own eyes: I don’t think Amon-Ra St. Brown is playing this week. It appears to be a milder variety of a high-ankle sprain on his left ankle.

Marvin Harrison Jr. - Heel

The heel gel pad is useful if you have plantar fasciitis or a heel contusion, since the soft cushion helps relieve pressure, and I think that’s likely what he was dealing with. The good news is that as a wide receiver, most of your movements are done on your toes, which is why he was still able to play coming off an appendectomy and actually be pretty effective. He had six catches, and I think he’ll be even more effective next week.

Sauce Gardner - Calf

It looked like a calf strain all the way. I can’t determine the exact grade from video, but he was in a boot on the sideline, which is actually a good sign since he wasn’t completely on crutches.

Even if it’s low-grade, re-aggravation is a real concern because calf injuries tend to linger. And when coaches say “week-to-week,” we all know what that really means: more than one week. Week-to-week typically means about a month, just like day-to-day usually means about a week. So week-to-week suggests he could easily miss several games. It’s not a foregone conclusion that he avoids IR; four games is the minimum, and with five games left — assuming the Colts have already had their bye — IR is still possible.

I don’t think he’s out for the season, and when he returns will depend on how he progresses. Ideally, he’s back for the playoffs, assuming the Colts stay in the wild-card mix, but injured reserve is definitely not off the table.

Mike Evans - Collarbone

He’s been able to work out his lower body for a while now, and I think he may have a quick path to return and be effective — not as a decoy, but truly effective. That would be a big boost for the Buccaneers, especially since Chris Godwin looked good yesterday for the first time this year. Germie McMillan also appears to be getting clearance to return and start ramping up. I believe Mike Evans will have a relatively quick ramp-up as well.

Why do I think Evans will return faster than Jayden Reed, even though both have collarbone fractures? The difference is that Reed also had surgery on a fifth metatarsal fracture — the stress fracture in his foot we talked about during the preseason. That foot issue is what will hold Reed back. Because Evans doesn’t have that additional injury, his pathway to return is much quicker than Jayden Reed’s.

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