NFL Investigating Falcons Over Bijan Robinson Illness Because Fantasy Football Matters

Most NFL players tell you that they don't care about fantasy football. Well, not Austin Ekeler. But most. And, the league pretends it doesn't care either. But it does. Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson did not appear on the team's injury report but hardly played against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That raised some questions. How is Robinson, easily one of Atlanta's best players, completely healthy yet not playing in the game? Well, he wasn't completely healthy. It turns out that he told the team Saturday night that he wasn't feeling well.

Atlanta Falcons RB Bijan Robinson barely played on Sunday and the NFL is investigating whether the team withheld injury information. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

The illness in question is unknown, but it was bad enough to limit Robinson to just one rushing attempt in the game (which came with only 33 seconds left in the game).

Robinson doesn't seem the type to sit idly by with an "upset stomach," so we can reasonably assume that he was quite sick. He said he had a "bad headache" and for a running back -- a position that takes a lot of hits to the head -- that can be detrimental.

The Atlanta Falcons are required to report that illness to the league. Because the team knew on Saturday night, it had to inform the league. However, it did not.

The NFL is investigating the team to see if it violated policy, which it almost certainly did.

I'm not going to dive deep into the conspiracy theories here, but it's interesting that Robinson got one carry VERY late in the game. Previously, he wasn't in the box score at all.

Some suggested that the team did that to make sure that he appeared in the box score to appease the sportsbooks. However, that explanation doesn't hold any weight.

Actually, most sportsbooks say that a player has to play only one snap to qualify as playing in the game. Robinson played 11 snaps, according to Pro Football Reference.

More likely, the Falcons wanted to avoid this inquiry. They wanted to be able to say, "see, we put him in during a key play late in the game and gave him the ball!"

But, the NFL can question a team if a player plays "less than expected." Which, of course, is more than 11 snaps for Bijan Robinson (who averages 50 snaps per game).

Again, the Falcons don't care about fantasy football. The team didn't want the Buccaneers -- a team they're battling for a division crown -- to know that its best offensive player wasn't fully available.

Bijan Robinson touched the ball just one time for the Atlanta Falcons against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, infuriating fantasy football managers. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

But, the NFL does care about fantasy football. It doesn't admit it, but it matters. A lot. Fantasy football brings a lot more casual fans to the games and the explosion of fantasy contributes greatly to increased NFL popularity.

When you have a player like Robinson -- someone who fantasy football players count on -- hardly playing in a game with no warning, that's bad. It makes fans angry and threatens hurting the overall brand.

The NFL probably investigates claims like this all the time. We just rarely hear about it. But, the league made sure that all the big NFL reporters (like Adam Schefter) let the public know that it's looking into this issue.

Think it'd do that if Atlanta's left guard didn't play as much as expected?

I sure don't.