Who Should I Start? Chris Rodriguez Jr. or Tahj Brooks

Thursday, November 27, 12:40 AM

Washington Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. (illness) was absent during Wednesday's practice due to an illness, but it shouldn't affect his status for Sunday Night Football against the Denver Broncos. Rodriguez has established himself as Washington's primary ball carrier in recent weeks with the struggles of rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt. The third-year back out of Kentucky led the backfield with a 45.3% snap share in Washington's Week 11 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Madrid, handling a career high 15 carries for 79 yards to go with one reception (one target) for six yards as a receiver. He won't add much value as a receiver as Jeremy McNichols handles the pass-down responsibilities, but he should receive the majority of the early down work with Croskey-Merritt mixing in. Rodriguez has a tough matchup in Week 13 against Denver, but should get enough volume to profile as a low-end RB3.

Monday, November 24, 1:36 PM

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has ruled out rookie running back Tahj Brooks (concussion) for this Thursday's Thanksgiving Day game against the division-rival Baltimore Ravens in Week 13, according to Jay Morrison of SI.com. Brooks suffered a concussion in Sunday's loss to the New England Patriots, and on a short week, the 23-year-old won't be able to clear the league's concussion protocol. Veteran Samaje Perine (ankle) has missed the last two games due to injury and might not be available this week, either, so the Bengals' backfield could be extremely thin behind Chase Brown this week versus Baltimore. If Perine ends up missing a third straight game, expect Gary Brightwell to operate as Cincy's RB2 behind Brown on Turkey Day. Brooks has only nine rushing attempts in 11 games this year for 28 rushing yards.