I hope everyone's Week 5 went well. Mine was good, except for every time I thought about rejecting a proposed Brandon Jacobs-for-Phil Rivers deal last week. That ship has probably sailed, huh?
Speaking of the Giants, they are awesome. I'm calling a repeat right now - who's with me?
On to the news:
If you had Texans QB Matt Schaub, here's what happened yesterday: He spent Saturday night in the hospital due to a viral infection, and was apparently too weak to play. The news wasn't announced until sometime after noon ET, so if you had him in your lineup, you might not have known about it in time to make a change and are absolutely within your rights to send hate mail to the Texans. Moving forward, Schaub should still be a solid fantasy QB play, with home games against the Dolphins, Lions and Bengals over the next three weeks.
Bills QB Trent Edwardsleft yesterday's game with a first-quarter concussion. Edwards was apparently feeling better after the game. The Bills have a Week 6 bye, and I'll keep an eye on Edwards' status as Week 7 approaches.
Bucs QB Brian Grieseleft yesterday's game with an elbow injury. Jeff Garcia played okay in relief, and initial reports from Tampa are that we might have a good, old-fashioned QB controversy on our hands. Can it really be a controversy if neither QB was able to average 5.5 yards per attempt yesterday? Ugh.
The Panthers split their carries right down the middle again yesterday, with 20 for DeAngelo Williams and 19 for rookie Jonathan Stewart, but this time Williams got all three scores. If you're a Stewart owner, don't panic. Williams' TDs were from 10, 25 and 32 yards, so your guy should still be the short-yardage option.
Big night for the Steelers and RB Mewelde Moore, who had 99 yards rushing against the Jags. In other news from that game, please don't send me any more questions asking if you should start Jags RB Maurice Jones-Drew, who had 107 yards against the Colts two weeks ago, and 32 yards or less in his other four games this season.
The Bengals are hinting that RB Chris Perrywill keep his job, even after his fifth - fifth! - fumble of the season yesterday. I don't care what they're hinting about - if you need a back for some roster depth, grab Cedric Benson before he becomes the starter.
After being questionable all week, Eagles RB Brian Westbrookplayed, scored on the first drive, left during the next possession with a rib injury, came back pretty quickly, and touched the ball 13 times the rest of the day. Overall, he had 84 total yards and a TD. You'll take that, right?
Seahawks WR Deion Branch had his 2008 debut spoiled by a heel injury that might keep him out next week. Bobby Engram was his usual, short-reception self, with eight catches for 61 yards.
Wildcat! After 125 yards and a TD yesterday, Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown has gone from sell-high candidate to a hold-on-tight stud.
Is anyone else concerned about LaDainian Tomlinson? After yesterday's 12-carry, 35-yard outing, he's averaging 3.7 yards per carry, with 331 yards rushing and four TDs in five games. That's not bad at all, but not befitting of the longtime fantasy monster. I hope that sore toe of his gets better fast.
Here's a preview of tonight's Vikings-Saints tilt, which will see Drew Brees continue his quest for five kajillion passing yards this season. WR David Patten is out for the Saints, and while WRs Bernard Berrian and Sidney Rice are both listed as questionable for the Vikes, they made the trip to New Orleans.
I could get into more detail about the week's fantasy performances, but my friend John Juhasz has already compiled his exhaustively comprehensive Takeaways here and here. See you tomorrow.
SCHEDULE
The blog is now all baseball, all the time. I'll post Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays through January before moving to a Monday through Friday schedule.
As always, expect updates by 8 a.m. ET on most days.
Feedback, including links to items you think I should include in this blog, is always welcome at jhalpin37@gma il.com. Thanks.