Week 3 Injury Update: Take a Deep Breath and Count to 10

If you haven't had the heart to read injury details following Sunday's loss, now is as good a time as ever. The news is grim, so I'll spare you the cutesy intro ramblings. Think of it like removing a bandaid—better to get this over with quickly.

On offense:

TE Fred Davis—Nobody freak out. Rich Campbell tweeted about Davis needing to pass the league's concussion testing protocol before being cleared to play this Sunday, but that doesn't necessarily mean he has a concussion—it just means that he took a gnarly helmet-to-helmet hit in St. Louis. No flag was thrown, and Mike Shanahan chided the scab refs for missing the call in Monday's presser. When asked whether Davis is being monitored for concussion symptoms, Shanny answered "Looking at that hit to the head, if he's not, he should be."

WR Pierre Garcon—A turf-toe-like injury to Garcon's foot sidelined him in St. Louis. When asked about the receiver's absence, Mike Shanahan told reporters, "I felt like if we did play him, he might only play five or six plays. I just thought we might set him back."

On defense:

DT Chris Baker—Despite practicing fully in the preceding days, Baker was among the week 2 inactives. He's been dealing with an ankle injury sustained in the preseason, but he'll need to get healthy and stay healthy now that the defensive line is without Carriker. Goodness, typing that sentence was no fun.

DT Adam Carriker—The one of Sunday's one-two punch. Carriker tore his quad tendon on the second play of the game and will require surgery to repair it plus five months to recover. Jarvis Jenkins, who sat out his rookie year with a torn ACL, will start in Carriker place. Doug Worthington has been promoted from the practice squad for depth.

LB Brian Orakpo—If I was capable of weeping blood, I probably would have done just that upon hearing Orakpo was done for the season. While sacking Sam Bradford on the Rams' opening drive, Orakpo tore the same pectoral muscle that required surgery this offseason, albeit in a different place. He'll require surgery and the recovery time is estimated at a full four months. Chris Wilson and Rob Jackson will be competing for his place and the team signed Markus White from Tampa's practice squad.

CB Josh Wilson—A hard tackle to prevent a Rams' touchdown left Wilson with a mild concussion on Sunday. Today, he joined 106.7 the Fan's Holden and Danny Show and admitted to feeling lingering symptoms from the blow. "You get back up, you stumble—it's embarrassing, but it's not fake," he said. "It's a scary moment because this is your life that is at stake, there are a lot of repercussions to concussions." WIlson hopes to play in the home opener, but like Davis, he must clear the NFL's concussion testing protocols before retaking the field.

S Brandon Meriweather—A sprained MCL and PCL have held Meriweather out of the team's first two regular-season games, but the safety told media members yesterday that the knee is feeling better. He expressed hopes for playing in the home opener against Cincinnati, which would be ahead of his projected recovery schedule by at least a week. "Every day we try something different," he said. "Right now we’re more focused on straight ahead and the lateral stuff." While filling in for the injured starter, backup DeJon Gomes has flashed, recording nine solo tackles and an interception.

One bright spot? Our living-legendary long snapper Nick Sundberg is now making t-shirts! This is my favorite, just because it proves players occasionally read what I write, or at least read the headlines.