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Should I assume you're reading this after standing in some frozen line all night for the new PlayStation 3? I drove by Best Buy last night on a Starbucks run and saw a line of ... well, in case the Venn diagram of "Best Buy line standers" and "Injury Report readers" has a higher degree of overlap than I'd anticipate, I'll decline to colorfully describe the people in line. To me, injuries are just as much a passion as a few more Cell-processed Madden 07 pixels are to the gamers willing to risk frostbite for them. Then again, I won't stand outside all night ... though I do risk my ear from all the cell calls. It's not much of a comparison, I know, but let's get to the injuries:

The Chiefs season hasn't turned on new head coach Herm Edwards, on Larry Johnson's production, or any of the expected factors. Instead, the season has been a story of injuries, making David Price the key figure in the team's playoff hopes. (Price is the team's Head Athletic Trainer.) The big news, of course, is that Trent Green is back as the starting QB. This is no surprise; the conservative Edwards may have tried to juke the media, but he was always going back to Green once he was cleared to play. The offense should open up more, giving Eddie Kennison and Samie Parker a bit more value. With Tony Gonzalez out this week, Green won't have his favorite target, but the blocking shouldn't suffer too much with Jason Dunn filling in. The blocking is a big story on the injury front, since much of Damon Huard's questionable play last week came due to a porous line, missing Kevin Sampson and Brian Waters, both out again this week. Green can't afford to take a big hit in his first week back, so expect the schemes to be max protect. That will mean more Larry Johnson, despite the team needing to slow the pace of his rushes -- he's on track for over 400 carries. With the defense as banged up as the offense, Price has his work cut out for him, but his staff's ability to get the players back to production might mean the difference between the playoffs and January tee times.

The Redskins didn't wait to see where they were in a couple weeks. They quickly dropped Clinton Portis to the IR after surgery to fixate the broken bone in his hand not as a white flag, but because they had known for weeks -- as we had suspected, but could not confirm earlier this season -- that Portis needs additional surgery. Portis' preseason shoulder injury included a torn labrum, one that will need surgical intervention and that has been causing significant pain for Portis all season long. If Portis were a pitcher, this would be more of a problem, but once repaired, his shoulder should be fine for what he'll use it for -- banging off linebackers. Ladell Betts, a guy you needed to have paired with Portis, now becomes a good fantasy option behind new QB Jason Campbell, assuming Campbell can prevent an eight-in-the-box defense with some type of passing attack. That passing attack doesn't look to have Santana Moss. As of Thursday, Moss hadn't returned to practice and, according to coach Joe Gibbs, Moss won't play if he can't practice on Friday. If you have Moss on your roster, you need to pair him with Antwaan Randle El, who got the bulk of targets in his absence last time.

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