Injuries and bye weeks continue to ravage fantasy rosters. Luckily for fantasy owners, one of those two ends next weekend.

Unfortunately for fantasy owners, it is not the injuries.

With only one more bye week on the docket for the 2009 season, fantasy owners are right around the corner from the 2009 fantasy playoffs. This week also marks the trade deadline in many fantasy leagues, so this could be your last opportunity to make a big deal before the playoff push.

Injury updates below after a little fantasy laginappe:

*Kurt Warner was due for a big fantasy bounce-back weekend after a six-turnover stinker against Carolina last weekend. Fantasy owners who started Warner were not disappointed by his five-touchdown day in Chicago. Unfortunately, we whiffed on the bench Greg Olsen call but most of our other advice was spot-on.

*Four of the five smaller name players we told you to buy last week continued their strong fantasy seasons yesterday. Ray Rice, Donald Driver, Mike Sims-Walker and Steve Smith (NYG) all had solid fantasy outings for their owners. Joe Flacco, meanwhile, failed to find the endzone. Now would be a good time to bargain with Flacco’s owner. Rashard Mendenhall, the sixth on that list, plays tonight.

*Ryan Moats was the hottest waiver wire add to fantasy teams last week and he got the start for the Texans yesterday against the Colts. While he delivered with a touchdown catch, he also put the ball on the turf — the same thing that got Steve Slaton benched in the first place. Slaton also played a scored a rushing TD with no fumbles, so expect his role to once again increase after a solid outing.

Clinton Portis [RB, Redskins]

From RotoWorld:

He didn’t appear in good spirits with a towel over his head on the sideline, and was ruled out for the rest of the game in the second quarter.

Just a weeks after watching Brian Westbrook get knocked out early in the Monday Night Football game, Portis suffered the same fate himself yesterday at Atlanta.

Ladell Betts, who scored a touchdown in the contest, is the appropriate add for fantasy owners here. No word yet on Portis’ status for next weekend. There should be an update out of Washington sometime early this week.

Brian Westbrook [RB, Eagles]

From RotoWorld:

“On Friday afternoon Brian began experiencing symptoms of a mild headache,” the team revealed. “From that point forward, we had Brian re-evaluated by (team internist) Dr. Gary Dorshimer and we put him through extensive testing.”

Westbrook was declared inactive early yesterday which was the good news for fantasy owners who had to make a decision on him early in the day.

His status will continue to be up-in-the-air going forward.

Chris Henry [WR, Bengals]

From ProFootballTalk:

As expected, Bengals receiver Chris Henry has suffered a broken forearm during Sunday’s game against the Ravens.

It was a nasty looking injury that could be season-ending for Henry.

He had been a fantasy disappointment so far this season but appeared to finally have his head on straight. It is unfortunate that this happened to him during what appeared to be a turn-around year for the once-beleaguered wide receiver.

Brett Favre [QB, Vikings]

From ProFootballTalk:

NBC’s Peter King reported Saturday that Favre injured the groin during practice on Wednesday, October 28, and that the groin became aggravated in warmups before the Week Eight game against the Packers.  Per King, Favre told backup Tarvaris Jackson to be ready on short or no notice to enter the Lambeau showdown.

The beginning of the end for Favre this season?

Last year he unraveled after a significant throwing-arm injury plagued him — and the Jets — down the stretch. Fortunately, this injury is not to his throwing arm but could affect his mobility. Fantasy owners do not really rely on Favre’s mobility, however, to win games so this should be OK.

Jahvid Best [RB, California]

From The Big Lead:

Jahvid Best suffered a “pretty serious concussion” Saturday night while spectacularly leaping into the end zone against Oregon State. Best landed on his neck, his helmet flew off, and the image of his frozen, unconscious body on the ground is haunting.

Best made a spectacular play (click the link above for video evidence) in scoring a touchdown for the Cal Bears this weekend. The impact with the ground, however, knocked him out cold in a scary-looking scene.

Best could miss some significant time for Cal and hopefully suffers no long-term effects after his wicked collision with the ground.

Anthony Gonzalez [WR, Colts]

From ProFootballTalk:

The team announced that Gonzalez suffered a recent setback, and that because of it he underwent arthroscopic surgery on Thursday.

Bad news for AGonzo but good news for Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie, who should continue to benefit from Gonzalez’s absence in the lineup.

Gonzo’s surgery likely will keep him out another two-to-three weeks at a minimum. Fantasy owners still holding onto him would be justified now in cutting ties with him for good this season. Garcon and Collie are firmly entrenched in the Colts’ lineup.

The MMR will continue to run every Monday morning as scheduled during the regular season. If you have an injury update or want an update on a certain player, please leave a note in the comments.

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