Questionable (Injury Designation)

In the NFL, teams must put an injury label on each hurt player before a game. 'Questionable' is the middle tag, and it means the team thinks the player has roughly a coin-flip chance of playing. It sits between 'Doubtful' (very unlikely to play) and no listing at all (healthy). For fantasy managers, a Questionable tag means you need a backup plan, because the player might be a game-time decision.

The key timing point for fantasy is that final injury reports come out late in the week, but the player's true status often is not known until about 90 minutes before kickoff. That is when teams must announce their inactive list. If your Questionable player has an early Sunday game, you will know his status before lineups lock in most leagues. If he plays Sunday night or Monday night, you may have to guess, so it is often smarter to start a healthy player instead of waiting and getting stuck with a zero.

A Questionable player who does play still carries some risk. He might be limited, leave early if the injury flares up, or see fewer snaps than usual. Big-name players often play through this tag, but checking beat reporter updates, pregame warmup news, and the inactive list is the safest way to handle the situation.

Common questions

Related terms

• Doubtful (Injury Designation)
• Injury Report
• Injured Reserve
• Waiver Wire