Dec. 11, 2025, 6:32 AM ESTBy Greg RosensteinThe injury was so gruesome that the only acceptable way to watch it was through your fingers. Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, dragged to the grass by a Seattle Seahawks defender on a running play last month, tried to break his fall with his left hand but ended up bending his elbow in a manner it shouldn’t be bent. Writhing in pain, he lay on his back, grimacing. Fans in the stadium were stunned, not knowing whether their star might be out for the foreseeable future. Countless fantasy football team owners who had Daniels on their teams had their own concern: how much time he’d miss and how it would affect their seasons. Pulling up social media, they turned to the likes of Jeff Mueller.Mueller is among a growing number of medical professionals who have found an audience in NFL fans, fantasy football players and sports bettors, all of whom seek information about players’ availability before official announcements are made.Jayden Daniels is helped off the field after an injury against the Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 2. Scott Taetsch / Getty ImagesWithin minutes after an athlete goes down, the doctors post across Instagram, X, YouTube and TikTok their projected injury diagnoses and how many games they envision the player to miss. Later, throughout the week, they give updates on the player’s game availability. What they say may either calm nerves or lead to utter panic. “That desire for injury information has increased over the years because fantasy football has grown with multiple avenues of playing with redraft, dynasty, best ball, guillotine and various other leagues,” Mueller said. “People crave instant information and intel on topics such as injuries because it can have a big impact on their own leagues, betting, odds and other possible impacts even though we often get factual information several days later.” Mueller is a physical therapist with more than a decade of experience at a sports medicine clinic. His background — and that of seemingly every other medical professional analyzing sports injuries on social media today — has come into question when a diagnosis is made. Are they actually qualified to provide accurate calls without X-rays or examining players in person?NBC News spoke with six medical professionals with roles from orthopedic surgeon to physical therapist. Like all content creators, the doctors can monetize injury analysis by driving traffic to their platforms. The larger the following, the higher the chance of financial gain. Some have under 10,000 followers, while others are in the hundreds of thousands across platforms. But all treat patients first and look at NFL injuries second. “This is my side hustle. This isn’t my full-time job,” said Tom Christ, a physical therapist outside Philadelphia. “So if I’m in the clinic and we get some kind of [NFL] news breaking, there’s a good chance I’m not looking at my phone for three straight hours when I’m working.” Christ estimates he spends 10 to 15 hours per week on content creation, not including watching games. He says his game setup is fairly bare-bones: He watches NFL RedZone and takes in as many replays as possible if a player goes down. “When an injury happens, I’ll record it on my phone and then crop it so you don’t see my walls,” he joked. Dr. Jesse Morse’s routine is a bit more nuanced. A physician in family and sports medicine who specializes in injuries and musculoskeletal pain, he runs a clinic in Florida that focuses on regenerative medicine. On an NFL Sunday, he also watches RedZone but has a team of two to five people “that will be spotters for me” and alert him of any injury. They then make sure he has video of all the angles and an updated injury history of the player to best assess the situation. Morse, who spends roughly 20 to 30 hours per week during the season analyzing football injuries, says his background and expertise allow him to have a strong indication of what occurred and the timetable for a player to return “within probably 20 seconds.” His aim is to have a full breakdown online in 10 minutes. He’s quick to point out that not all injuries are created equal and that factors like previous health situations could make a diagnosis more difficult. Severity is also crucial.