Fantasy Football Impact: Austin Ekeler Fears an Achilles Injury Late in TNF
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Austin Ekeler went down tonight with a non-contact injury. Thursday Night Football just continues to tear up bodies and it is unfortunate to see. Anyway, early reports suggest that Ekeler may have torn his achilles. This is all unconfirmed, so we will await further reports. Ekeler did get back over to the sideline bench, thus avoiding the dreaded golf cart.
Hope the video lies for Austin Ekeler
— David J. Chao - ProFootballDoc (@ProFootballDoc) September 12, 2025
Classic right Achilles tendon rupture
Surgery and season over pic.twitter.com/xJ54Vy9Yca
Commanders Fantasy Football Impact
If Ekeler does have a ruptured achilles tendon, he will be out for the season and it will put a major dent on his career. As for the Commanders backfield, this will boost Jacory Croskey-Merritt into the prime RB1 role in Washington. This would further upgrade the gamble that many fantasy owners made come draft week.
This may also force the hand of the Commaners to give Chris Rodriguez Jr more playing time. He has notably not seen the field as much as people expected he would prior to Week 1. Jeremy McNichols also gets more work.
Stock Watch IF Ekeler is Out
Jacory Croskey-Merritt - Boost to RB2 starting position in fantasy football.
Chris Rodriguez Jr - Rosterable, but with much caution. See before you believe.
Jeremy McNichols - Rosterable, but only in deep leagues (14+ teams, maybe deeper). Do not spend any more than 2% FAB on the gamble.
Austin Ekeler Fears Achilles Injury
All reports seem to be quite confident that Ekeler tore his achilles towards the end of Thursday Night Football. Often times, achilles tears are identified quite easily, so though I will not confirm it to be the case, it trends very likely.
#Commanders starting RB Austin Ekeler, who was carted to the locker room with a non-contact injury, was ruled out with an Achilles injury. A potentially significant injury. pic.twitter.com/16QUWktFkF
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 12, 2025
Past Age 30, this is a brutal deal for Ekeler. Achilles injuries are among the longest to rehab from. For Ekeler to rehab an Achilles and return next season would be difficult. You have to imagine he may weigh retirement at some point in the rehab process.
Coming from the heart, we all love Austin Ekeler. He is a great person and a fantasy football supporter. We wish him all the best, and perhaps a return may yet happen in 2025. He is in our hearts!
Stay tuned for further updates
Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.