Steichen didn’t go into detail on what it would take for Taylor to play in Week 5, simply saying, “there could be, yeah,” when asked about the chances of the star running back playing. The Colts are opening the 21-day practice window for Taylor, meaning they still have time to ramp him up in practice before putting him on the field. We’ll see how things go throughout the week, but a return to action would undoubtedly provide a boost to both the Colts and fantasy managers’ teams.

Dotson briefly left Week 4 against the Eagles with an ankle injury but returned to catch the game-tying touchdown at the end of regulation. Despite playing on a short week ahead of Thursday night’s matchup against the Bears, Dotson has a good shot to suit up in Week 5 after gutting out Sunday’s game. Dotson caught 4-of-9 targets against the Eagles, and can be looked to as a fringe WR3/WR4 against the Bears.

White has now suffered season-ending injuries in two of his last three seasons, with the last being a torn ACL suffered in 2021. The Bills All-Pro corner will now miss the remainder of 2023, closing his season with 12 tackles, and one interception while earning a PFF coverage grade of 76.7. Assuming all goes well with his surgery, White should be ready for training camp next season.

Parsons briefly exited Sunday’s game against the Patriots but returned and finished out the game. Parsons’ status heading into Week 5 against the 49ers will be one to monitor, but the early expectation is he’ll play on Sunday and be limited in practice on Wednesday.

Was this ever really in question? Sure, the Bengals are 1-3 and averaging 12.3 points per game. And Burrow undoubtedly still dealing with the calf injury that’s slowed him all season, but a slowed Joe Burrow is almost certain to give the Bengals a better chance at winning than a fully-healthy Jake Browning. Things are getting late quick for the Bengals, who need to turn things around in what should be a winnable game against the Cardinals. With that said, the Cardinals have played four tough games despite their 1-3 record, and could get their second win against a flailing Bengals offense. Burrow starting in what’s basically a must-win game was always going to be the answer.

Speaking on Monday, Higgins said he doesn’t anticipate his injury to sideline him for an extended period of time, and wouldn’t rule out playing in Week 5. It will be interesting to see how the Bengals’ 1-3 start could factor into Higgins decision to play, as the Bengals have gotten off to a wildly unexpected start and are struggling mightily on offense, ranking dead last in points per game (12.3). Higgins’ status will be one to monitor when the Bengals hit the practice field on Wednesday.

Taylor’s 21-day practice window will officially open on Wednesday. The simultaneously injured and disgruntled running back is reportedly still in search of a trade that appears unlikely to come at this point in the season, leaving him with few options outside of playing out the remainder of this season. We’ll see if Taylor is ready to go in Week 5 when the Colts take on the Titans, but fantasy managers who opted to stash him could soon be rewarded for their patience.

Despite all of social media calling for Ridder’s benching in Week 4 against the Jaguars, Smith stuck by his guy through what was arguably the worst start of his career. Ridder took four sacks, threw two interceptions, and led the Falcons to just seven points on the afternoon, looking overmatched throughout much of the day. Despite a willing-and-able veteran in Taylor Heinicke behind him, Smith is willing to stick with Ridder for at least one more week. However, if he struggles in Week 5, it will be interesting to see if Smith opts to start Heinicke in Week 6 against the Commanders, who Heinicke spent the previous three seasons with.

Week 4 marked Mattison’s first game sharing a backfield with Cam Akers, but his 69 percent snap share was only a slight drop from the 77 percent snap share he had entering the day. Mattison played well enough with his opportunities on the day, rushing 17 times for 95 yards and will likely serve as the lead back in Week 5 against the Chiefs. Akers turned in a solid 5/40 rushing line, but may need a Mattison implosion before the team considers turning to him on a more consistent basis.

Through the first three weeks of the season, Sanders played on 61 percent of the team’s snaps compared to the 36 percent of snaps Hubbard was in on. That snap share was flipped on its head in Week 4, as Hubbard out-snapped Sanders and finished the day with a 52.8 percent snap share. Hubbard didn’t do much with his touches, totaling 53 yards from scrimmage on 16 touches, but it was a more efficient performance than the 2.0 yards per touch Sanders averaged on the day. Sanders’ fantasy performance has been largely carried by his receiving upside, but Hubbard also ran 17 routes to Sanders’ 13 despite seeing one less target on the day. Fantasy managers in need of added running back depth would be wise to stash Hubbard when waivers comes around this week.