Although it seems as if the NFL season just began, teams are already getting time off. The bye weeks in the NFL begin today with four teams getting a respite before a 13-week stretch to end the season. For this and each of the following six weeks, fantasy owners will be playing some of their bench players to compensate for normal starters on bye.

Coinciding with the timing of the beginning of bye weeks, a number of standard first-string fantasy players sustained injuries last week and will miss time in Week 4 and beyond. Frank Gore and Felix Jones are the most valuable fantasy stars to go down last Sunday; however Kevin Smith and emerging receiver Laurent Robinson both left their respective contests.

Chad Pennington and Marc Bulger, two potential bye-week replacement quarterbacks, have been lost to injury. Willie Parker had an excellent game in Week 3 but exacerbated a turf toe injury that is likely to leave him unready for tonight's tilt with the Chargers.

This rash of injuries has taken an inconvenient process of replacing players during bye weeks and transformed it into an insufferable undertaking. Fantasy owners now need to search a little harder for potential bye-week stand-ins.

One of the most added players this week is Tashard Choice, the Dallas tailback who will see more playing time with the knee injury to Felix Jones. Despite the expert medical opinion of Cowboy owner Jerry Jones, Marion Barber is unlikely to be completely effective two weeks after a quad injury. That leaves Choice as a major benefactor.

Choice averaged 5.2 yards per carry in limited action as a rookie last year. In Week 3 against Carolina, he had 18 carries, 82 yards and a touchdown. He also had 36 receiving yards. Even if Barber plays, Choice is a good flex option.

Another common acquisition is Glen Coffee, the understudy of San Francisco's Frank Gore. Coffee, a second-round draft choice out of Alabama, has the endorsement of Niner head coach Mike Singletary. An impressive preseason performer, Coffee saw his most action in Week 3, gaining 54 yards on 25 carries for a meager 2.2 yards per attempt. Coffee will not light the world on fire, but he is a sensible alternative while normal starters relax during their byes.

A different tactic that owners may wish to employ is to look for teams who change their strategy because of injuries. San Francisco tight end Vernon Davis is a specific example. After two sub-par games, Davis had a breakout game with Gore on the sidelines. Even though Coffee got the touches out of the backfield, his relative ineffectiveness required others to raise their level of play. Davis quickly became quarterback Shaun Hill's favorite target.

Hill is not particularly adept at the long pass, so he is likely to continue utilizing his large tight end. Davis racked up 96 yards, and two of his seven receptions were for touchdowns versus Minnesota. Owners should not expect a similar outing every week from Davis, yet he is worthy of starting in most fantasy lineups until Gore returns.

Donnie Avery of the Rams was one of fantasy football's chic sleepers at draft time. A rookie in 2008, Avery had 53 catches for 674 yards and three touchdowns. With Torry Holt out of town, Avery was the clear preference as the primary receiving target. Those plans did not come to fruition.

The Rams are one of the weaker teams in the NFL, and they have injury-prone, unproductive quarterbacks. Still, someone needs to catch passes in St. Louis. For the first three weeks of the year, that person was Laurent Robinson, who had 13 receptions for 167 yards and a score. Robinson suffered a season-ending leg injury last week, allowing Avery a second chance to prove himself. A low-end receiver for the time being, Avery can be a useful substitute over the next few weeks.