Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season brought the kind of chaos fans live for - big scores, surprise results, and a few marquee names leaving the opener with injuries that could reshape the early weeks of the year.
The biggest hits came fast, and in some cases, they came to players teams were counting on immediately. AJ Brown’s Patriots debut ended in the third quarter of Wednesday’s opener in Seattle after a short route led to what looked like an ankle injury.
New England later put Brown on injured reserve Friday, calling it a high ankle sprain and saying he’ll miss four to six weeks. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels addressed the loss Thursday on WEEI, via Mike Reiss of ESPN: “Any injury that you get at this time of the season, you kind of approach it with an all-hands-on-deck approach,” Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Thursday on sports radio WEEI, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.
“We got a lot of different skill guys that can do a lot of different things. There isn’t one person on the roster that can replace anybody like A.J. - in the middle of a game or a stretch of a season.
So we’ll band together and figure out what we can do well and then try to get guys in positions to play to their strengths.” Romeo Doubs, newly signed from the Green Bay Packers, is now part of the plan, and Mack Hollins already showed what he can do by catching four passes for 51 yards, the team’s top receiving output after Brown exited.
The Rams also took a major early hit with Myles Garrett, their blockbuster trade acquisition from the Cleveland Browns. Garrett played the full game in Los Angeles’ 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but the production never followed.
He finished without a tackle and never got to the quarterback, an unusual line for a seven-time Pro Bowl defender who had also spent most of training camp dealing with knee concerns. After Thursday’s game, Garrett said his knee was not 100% and called his outing “the worst version of myself that I’ve put out there.”
By Sunday, the Rams had moved him to injured reserve, and he’s set to undergo arthroscopic surgery that will sideline him for at least four weeks.
Ladd McConkey gave the Chargers plenty to smile about before his day turned. Against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, he caught five passes for 82 yards and a touchdown before leaving in the third quarter with what first appeared to be a back injury.
The issue was later identified as a chest injury, and that left his status unsettled. Los Angeles dropped the game 26-14 at home, and with no immediate update available, concern is building around the team’s top receiver.
Baltimore had a different kind of problem with Zay Flowers. The veteran wideout, fresh off a four-year, $140 million extension, looked like he was about to put on a show against the Indianapolis Colts.
He had five catches for 150 yards and a touchdown before halftime, then was seen limping late in the second quarter, per ESPN. Flowers was initially questionable to return before being ruled out with an apparent hamstring injury.
The Ravens still rolled to a 41-23 win, but the game got worse for their receiver group when rookie Ja’Kobi Lane was also ruled out with a fractured wrist. Chris Cwik of Yahoo Sports wrote, “Flowers’ injury prognosis was more positive.
The wideout’s hamstring is considered minor, per NFL Network. He’s considered day-to-day,” and Lane’s wrist fracture is expected to cost him multiple weeks.
Kyler Murray’s Vikings debut was over almost as soon as it began. Minnesota had brought him in to stabilize the quarterback spot after Sam Darnold’s departure after the 2024 season, but Sunday’s opener against the Green Bay Packers ended after a hard hit in the first quarter left him visibly concussed.
Ash Anjum of Pro Football Network wrote, “Murray lay motionless on the field for several seconds. His teammates signaled immediately for the medical staff.
He eventually got up and walked under his own power and went straight to the locker room. The Vikings ruled him out with a concussion shortly after,” Ash Anjum of Pro Football Network wrote.
Veteran backup Carson Wentz took over and led Minnesota to a 39-22 win, but Murray’s return timeline remains unclear, and he’s likely to miss a significant stretch of the 2026 season under NFL concussion protocols.
In Other News...
Ravens Leave Week 1 Win With A Concern Fans Can't Ignore
Baltimores Week 1 win over the Colts came with a few reasons to feel uneasy, even after the final score was in hand. Zay Flowers was electric before leaving with a career-high 150 receiving yards and a touchdown, but he was not the only Raven to exit with a problem. Ja'Kobi Lane went out with a wrist injury, and T.J. Tampa left with a knee injury, with none of the three able to return.
Coach Jesse Minter did not have immediate updates afterward, leaving the team to sort through what those absences might mean going forward. The silver lining was that veterans Chris Moore and Carl Jones, both elevated from the practice squad, stepped in to help on offense and special teams, but Baltimore knows depth is only part of the concern when key contributors are suddenly unavailable. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Suddenly Have A WR Rotation Problem They Didnt Expect
JaKobi Lanes first week in Baltimore had already started to matter. The rookie wide receiver had worked his way into the Ravens rotation as the WR3 and flashed enough promise to make the staff think he could be part of the early-season passing plan before a wrist injury cut the momentum short in Week 1. The initial read on the injury points to a fractured wrist, and the expected recovery timeline leaves the Ravens with an immediate depth question at a spot they could not really afford to lose.
Rashod Bateman, Devontez Walker and Chris Moore are the names now positioned to absorb more of the workload, and the shift comes with some pressure attached. Baltimore was already trying to sort out how its receiver group would function around a young, unproven piece like Lane, and his absence forces those plans to move faster than expected. The next stretch will say plenty about whether the Ravens can keep the passing game on schedule while Lane is out, or whether the early uncertainty at receiver becomes a real issue. [Read more 🡒]
Trey Hendricksons Ravens Debut Showed What This Defense Might Become
Trey Hendrickson didnt get the sack in his Ravens debut, but he was all over the Colts backfield in a way that should have Baltimore paying close attention. He finished with five pressures and five hurries, a steady stream of disruption that helped the defense keep the heat on and played a real part in the win. For a unit trying to get its footing without some key pieces, it was the kind of debut that hinted at a broader answer.
Baltimore leaned into a mix of nickel and dime looks to make sure Hendrickson could attack in different ways, and that flexibility may end up being just as important as the individual numbers. The production was there even without the sack column filling up, and it raised the kind of question defensive coaches love to have: what does this pass rush look like once the pieces around him are fully in place? [Read more 🡒]