Fantasy Football

Back injury for Kelce

The Chiefs added Travis Kelce to their injury report with a back injury and listed him as questionable for Sunday’s game. Mecole Hardman and Justin Watson (illness) are also questionable.

Patrick Mahomes has no injury designation, so he’s good to go. (Adam Teicher on Twitter)

Nerdy Football Analysis: Despite his absence from the report, Mahomes will be bothered by his ankle sprain suffered in last week’s game against Jacksonville. How much it will hamper his mobility is the big question. Kelce did practice fully on Friday and there’s been no indication that he’s in danger of missing this game.

Elbow injury dogged him for second half of regular season

Brandon Beane says “I think we’re good there” as far as Josh Allen not planning to have offseason surgery on his right elbow. Allen said yesterday plan for elbow revolves around rest. (Katherine Fitzgerald on Twitter)

Nerdy Football Analysis: Allen suggested Monday that his mechanics and throwing motion were affected by the Week 9 injury until the end of the regular season. Considering he seems to be pain-free right now – he told reporters he was back to his old mechanics and throwing motion about two weeks ago on Monday – he should be in great shape for the offseason and training camp. Allen figures to be the top quarterback off fantasy draft boards in most leagues again this offseason.

Surgery completed on ankle

Tony Pollard underwent surgery Tuesday on a broken left fibula and high ankle sprain he suffered in the Cowboys’ divisional round playoff loss to San Francisco, per source. Should be full strength well before training camp. Set to be an unrestricted free agent in March…

Want to clarify on the Tony Pollard surgery: the tightrope procedure was to correct the high ankle sprain regarding the ligaments. The fibula will heal with time; no casting. (Todd Archer on Twitter)

Nerdy Football Analysis: The Cowboys certainly want to have Pollard back but they’ve already got Ezekiel Elliott under a large contract. Perhaps a Zeke restructure would be enough to keep both backs in the Dallas backfield moving forward?

Expects to play in NFC Championship

Not only was it difficult for Christian McCaffrey to find room to operate against the Dallas Cowboys’ fast and aggressive defense, he was dealing with a bothersome calf condition. McCaffrey played 44 of the 49ers’ 66 offensive snaps, and spent periods of time on the sideline in the second half with Elijah Mitchell taking over for the other 22 snaps.

McCaffrey confirmed the calf discomfort and expressed optimism he will be ready for the 49ers’ NFC Championship Game matchup against the top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

“Nothing bad, all good,” McCaffrey said. (Matt Maiocco on Twitter)

Nerdy Football Analysis: It is worth noting that HC Kyle Shanahan told reporters Monday that McCaffrey and Mitchell (groin) are day-to-day. Mitchell has benefited from how often the 49ers are playing with the lead during their 12-game winning streak and handled more work than most thought was possible in the wake of the McCaffrey trade, but that workload could be put to the test against the Eagles this weekend. If CMC is a full-go for Philadelphia, he should be on the field for roughly 75 percent of the snaps.