How to handle Leonard Fournette’s injury in Week 5 fantasy football

Game update: Fournette made an appearance on the final play of the first half — a kneel-down for the Bucs. It does not appear he has gotten much more work than that in his emergency role.

UPDATE: Fournette is only an emergency option, per Jay Glazer. Move Vaughn back up and downgrade Fournette.

Game status: Leonard Fournette is ACTIVE in a surprise after he was listed as doubtful. Downgrade Ke’Shawn Vaughn.

Ankle ailments have been the bane of Leonard Fournette’s existence as a football player since his days at LSU. Another one has cropped up, keeping him out of action for the majority of the past two weeks. Fournette’s gimpy ankle kept him inactive in Week 4 and out of practice this week leading up to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Thursday night game versus the Chicago Bears. He is officially listed as doubtful.

Fantasy impact: Leonard Fournette injury

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians said Tuesday that Fournette will be a game-time decision, but that “doubtful” designation doesn’t leave much room for hope. The high risk of an in-game setback makes him too risky to use in fantasy if he does play. Assuming Fournette is inactive, Ronald Jones stands to benefit the most and looks like an useful RB2 this week. He got 20 carries and added six receptions last Sunday while Fournette was unavailable.

Rookie Ke’Shawn Vaughn will also be involved to a lesser extent. He touched the ball five times in Week 4 and scored his first NFL touchdown.