Rarely do we hear positive follow-ups on injuries after a player exits in the fashion that O’Connell did yesterday, but this is the exception. Less than 24 hours after HC Antonio Pierce said O’Connell’s leg injury ‘didn’t look good’, he’s been officially diagnosed with nothing more than a bone bruise. In hindsight, we may have given too much credit to the medical acumen of Pierce, who’s simply an NFL head coach hoping to make it to next season on the coattails of Sincere McCormick. With O’Connell revived from certain doom, the floors of his top weapons Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers are once again re-elevated to pre-O’Connell injury scare levels. Having O’Connell under center as early as possible would beat the hell out of a full game of Desmond Ridder next week, especially in a matchup as good as the one the Raiders have against the Falcons in Week 15. O’Connell didn’t have much to offer to fantasy managers who started him out of desperation against the Buccaneers, throwing for just 104 yards and an INT while punching in a touchdown on the ground to prevent a total bottoming out on the day. Pay attention to practice reports this week, but it seems like O’Connell has a shot to play in Week 15 – a huge change from what appeared to be long odds for O’Connell to play another down in 2024.