Report: Jonathan Fanene Out 3-5 Weeks With Hamstring Tear

by Josh Kirkendall on Sep 15, 2010 10:55 PM EDT in Injury

As we pointed out twice today, Bengals defensive lineman Jonathan Fanene missed practice today after suffering a hamstring injury early against the New England Patriots. Fanene's hamstring was first problematic after reports surfaced that he "tweaked" a hamstring against the Buffalo Bills earlier in the preseason.

However, the injury appears to be a slightly more serious than we thought.

Carlos Holmes initially reported that Fanene suffered a hamstring tear and will be out three to five weeks. Geoff Hobson confirmed it hours later.

With Fanene out, it increases the likelihood that Carlos Dunlap will be activated for the first time this year, allowing Frostee Rucker to do the whole rotation defensive line shuffle dance. This may even increase Michael Johnson's snaps as a defensive end, who, according to Joe Reedy's snap chart, played all of his 16 snaps as a linebacker.

Fanene started 10 games last season, replacing Antwan Odom who suffered a season-ending injury early in the season. Odom's 49 tackles ranked second on the defensive line and he recorded a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Lions. His six quarterback sacks last season ranked second on the team, two behind the man he replaced.

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Comments

Well I’d rather the injury bug bite now, so that we can have our impact players back at the end of the season than have a repeat of last year and be in the playoffs with no starters.

by Cry on Sep 16, 2010 12:30 AM EDT reply actions

Same

Would also rather it’s someone like Fanene who we can replace than someone like Hall or Joseph which would be much harder to replace.

by Mexal on Sep 16, 2010 7:22 AM EDT up reply actions

Shoot.

C’mon Dunlap.. lets get after it.

by 80%OFTHETIMEIMRIGHTEVERYTIME on Sep 16, 2010 10:14 AM EDT reply actions

i would definitely like to see

more MJ93 in there now. The fact that he only took 16 snaps last sunday against a team that passes a ton, not good.

RIP Slim.

by brandone on Sep 16, 2010 11:08 AM EDT reply actions

x 2

Johnson is an animal. The coaches need to let the animal out.

by SnapCount80 on Sep 16, 2010 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions

More Dunlap please

Let’s see what he’s got. And echo to the call for more MJ at DE. Odom’s year last year was a little inflated since 80% of his numbers came in one game (GB) against a ghiaciuc-like rookie replacement and I’m not confident he’s over the achilles issue. And Geathers has been a ghost.

by driff on Sep 16, 2010 11:56 AM EDT reply actions

Geathers has been a ghost since the first game of 2007.

by Craig Conrad on Sep 16, 2010 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I think the ghost of Steve McNair haunts him because of the nightmares he probably had after that game.

by Craig Conrad on Sep 16, 2010 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions

So did the medical staff initially misdiagnose this one too?

by Tyler Pochocinco on Sep 16, 2010 12:15 PM EDT reply actions

That's what my 1st thought was...

especially after they mentioned that his hamstring was bothering him in Buffalo.

by Crew Jones on Sep 16, 2010 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I like Fanene, but...

I think that this might be a blessing in disguise. Getting MJ and Dunlap more snaps at D-End can only be a good thing. Nobosy can play worse than Odom and Geathers played last week. In fact, I kind of wish that this injury had happened to Geathers instead of Fanene, if it had to happen at all.

by Anthony Cosenza on Sep 16, 2010 1:43 PM EDT reply actions

Underrated

IMO Fanene is vastly underrated. Seems like he can get good pressure on the QB from the edge or interior. honestly I thought he should have seen more PT in the past. When he gets well you could potentially line up Dunalp and Johnson on the edge and Atkins and Fanene in the middle on obvious passing downs.

by Crew Jones on Sep 16, 2010 2:32 PM EDT reply actions