Is Jakobi Meyers Healthy Or Injured? Will Meyers Play In Week 4?

New England Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers had a promising start to the season. Through the first two weeks, he was leading his team in receiving yardage, and he was the WR23 in PPR after his nine-catch, 95-yard game against the Steelers.

Then he injured his knee.

Initially, the injury was considered to be not too serious. “Tests showed nothing significant and his status will be determined later in the week,” Ian Rapoport reported. But Meyers missed two days of practice in Week 3 and was ruled out on game day. In his absence, DeVante Parker saw an increase in targets and caught five passes for 156 yards against the Ravens.

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Will Jakobi Meyers Play In Week 4 Against the Packers?

This week, Meyers got in limited participation at practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but unfortunately for those fantasy managers rostering on Meyers, he was ruled out on Saturday.

How Does Meyers’ Injury Impact the Patriots?

Missing Meyers is a big blow to the Patriots' passing game. The 25-year-old was New England’s leading receiver in 2020 and 2021. Even this year, he is still leading the team in targets and receptions despite missing last week.

The Patriots' passing game was already going to suffer with QB Mac Jones’ injury (ankle). Jones will miss this week’s road game against the Green Bay Packers. Now backup QB Brian Hoyer will have one less weapon to throw to.

Meyers is the Patriots’ primary slot receiver. He ran 62% of his routes from the slot in the first two games. Without him, Lil’Jordan Humphrey ran 24 routes in the slot in Week 3, but he didn’t produce. The 24-year-old, who is in his first season as a Pat, was only targeted once and did not come away with a catch. He only has one catch for 11 yards all season.

Instead, Mac Jones looked to his receivers out wide, particularly DeVante Parker, with no Meyers. Parker played about 10 more snaps than he did in Weeks 1 and 2 and was targeted eight more times. Kendrick Bourne also saw an increase in targets and caught four for 58 yards, despite playing eight fewer snaps than he did in Week 2.

Who Should I Start Week 4 If Meyers Doesn’t Play?

You can’t count on Parker to have a repeat of last week’s explosion. First, Hoyer is likely a downgrade at quarterback, and we don’t know how he will distribute the ball. The Patriots have no clear alpha receiver. Both Parker and Agholor have a 14% target share, while Bourne has a 9% target share. There is no way to predict which receiver will be the No. 1 target.

Second, the Packers' defense is considerably better than the Ravens defense Parker feasted on last week. The Ravens rank dead last in passing yards allowed per game. They allow 53 more yards per game than the next closest team. The Packers, on the other hand, are allowing the seventh-fewest passing yards per game.

Given the tough matchup and the trouble at quarterback, it would be best to find your replacement for Jakobi Meyers on another team.

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