Dontay Moch's Injury Not As Bad As Originally Feared

Bengals fans wanted two see two things coming out of last Friday night's preseason opener against the Detroit Lions: a crisp performance and no major injuries to players. Unfortunately, neither came true.

Though there weren't a large amount of injuries that occurred during the course of the game to multiple players, one did strike a blow to the team. Third-round pick, Dontay Moch ended reportedly broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during the early stages of the game. There hasn't been any indications on exactly how he sustained the injury, only that it happened during Detroit's first possession of the game. This wasn't the first time in recent history that a Bengals rookie sustained a significant injury during a preseason game at Detroit. Kenny Irons, a running back selected in the second round of the 2007 draft, tore his ACL his rookie season in the same stadium. 

Initially, we started hearing that Moch could miss up to eight weeks due to his injury. Since then word has emerged from Bengals.com writer Geoff Hobson that Moch's recovery from this injury isn't as lengthy as originally thought:

Indications are rookie SAM linebacker Dontay Moch’s broken foot isn’t initially thought to be severe enough to be season-ending. It sounds like he’ll be back between four to six weeks. In that case he’d be inactive those first couple of regular-season games. 

Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweeted the same thing.

Though this is still a blow towards the team's overall pass rush, it's fairly relieving news that he won't end up on Injured Reserve, missing the season a result. The team has originally expected Moch to be a situational pass-rusher as well as a special teams staple. While it would be a nice luxury to have him around for the rest of the preseason and into the first few games of the regular season, getting him back for the more difficult part of the schedule later during the season could be a shot in the arm for this team.