In news that is making fantasy football owners shudder, Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette sat out Friday’s practice.
There’s no word yet that Fournette will not be able to play Sunday against the Browns, but he practiced this week on a limited basis until Friday. NFL Network reported Fournette did not participate in Friday’s session “as he rests his ankle,” but that wording is cryptic enough to be disconcerting to fantasy owners.
This is....not good. https://t.co/4yKzlPOk5h
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) November 17, 2017
#Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette won’t practice today, as he rests his ankle. Same injury he’s been dealing with for the last few weeks.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 17, 2017
The ankle injury kept Fournette out of Jacksonville’s Oct. 22 game at the Colts. At home last week against the Chargers, he limped to a season-low 33 yards on 17 carries and didn’t play for much of the fourth quarter.
Earlier this week, though, Fournette seemed more concerned about the expected weather conditions in Cleveland than he was about his ankle. It’s going to be cold and windy, and it’s probably going to snow — not the exactly the forecast a young man from Louisiana wants to hear.
“I hate the cold period,” Fournette said, per Jacksonville.com. “I sleep in the heat. That’s just how I grew up. Mentally, I’m just trying to get my mind ready — that’s all.”
Fournette said he’s played in only one cold-weather game in his life – LSU at Arkansas in 2014, when he was a freshman for the Tigers. He rushed for 9 yards on five carries as LSU was shut out, 17-0.
So, the ankle, the weather — anything else Fournette’s fantasy owners should be concerned about?
How about Cleveland’s run defense. Yes, the Browns are 0-9, but their 86.4 yards rushing allowed per game is the fourth-best in the NFL.
Still, no apologies here for the emphasis on fantasy when it comes to Fournette. Despite him missing two of Jacksonville’s last three games (he also missed the Nov. 5 game against the Bengals for violating a team rule) and being ineffective in the other, the Jags are 3-0 during that stretch. They also have T.J. Yeldon, Chris Ivory and Corey Grant as running back options and should be just fine in Cleveland if Fournette can’t play because of his ankle or can't play well because of the weather.