If you thought the most haunting NFL preseason injury occurred late Saturday night when a third-string quarterback on the Saints was trucked by a mascot riding on a vehicle similar to a vespa, you must have missed Sunday night’s Redskins-Bengals game.

On Washington’s first offensive series, quarterback Mark Brunell did what he does best – threw across the field off his back foot, resulting in an interception. On the runback, hustling Redskins running back Clinton Portis lowered his shoulder and made a touchdown-saving tackle. In the process, he dislocated his shoulder.

(In a juvenile, third-grade way, we laughed when John Madden said, “the ball went out of the socket and slipped back in.”)

Portis, the most ostentatious running back in the league, who is prone to acts of spontaneity, seemingly on a weekly basis, doesn’t seem to be a fan of the preseason (kind of like us). After the game he was anything but sanguine, and from what we could decipher, Portis moaned:

- “Ain’t had no business playin’ in”
- “I hope [I don’t have to play in another preseason game]”
- “I don’t see why I would [play again] – so this could happen again”
- “It’s in pain, it’s gonna hurt, but it ain’t nothing”

If your fantasy football draft is scheduled for this week, the best option is to push it back a week and wait for the Portis prognosis. Gambling on him with the 4th pick (Larry Johnson, LT, and Alexander are locks to be the top three chosen, though not necessarily in that order) right now could be catastrophic, especially since the healing time for a dislocated shoulder can be anywhere from 4-12 weeks.

If you must draft, we recommend avoiding Tiki Barber (brutal schedule), and Edge James (terrible o-line), and consider Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and our sleeper, Rams back Steven Jackson.

Portis Injured in Redskins’ Preseason Opener (Pigskin Assassin)
Injury should lower Portis’ stock (Real Football 365)
Redskins Take an Early Hit (Washington Post)