Updating Bengals Injuries

Now that we've finally exhaled the praising for players like Josh Johnson, Dan Sanzenbacher and everyone else with solid performances against the Atlanta Falcons, let's update some of the team's injury issues.

+ Despite leaving the locker room on crutches with his left ankle wrapped, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis told reporters following Cincinnati's 34-10 win over the Falcons that Tanner Hawkinson's injury "doesn't appear serious." But he will miss time.

Hawkinson had a decent game with one of his best blocks as a left guard during Giovani Bernard's touchdown run.

+ Brandon Ghee left the game in the fourth quarter with what was described as a head injury. Ghee, entering the season with a history of injuries that he was hoping to overcome, immediately began undergoing concussion protocols.

With the team having the day off and no presser scheduled for Friday, further updates on both injuries will wait until Saturday afternoon. Based on Lewis' postgame comments regarding Hawkinson and the process for the league's concussion protocols, it may be a safe bet that neither player works out this week and likely misses next Saturday when the Bengals host the Tennessee Titans.

+ Carlos Dunlap and Tyrone Goard are still under concussion protocols. There is no known timeline for their respective returns. Brandon Thompson is dealing with a knee injury that will keep him out for a bit.

+ There's a possibility that wide receiver A.J. Green will start practicing this week. Prior to the team leaving for Atlanta, Green was running in the pool and it was reported that the star receiver would be doing some on-field work last week.

On the other hand, the Bengals are going to be extremely cautious with Green's situation. Plus, Green's absence benefits the suddenly tangled wide receiver battles taking place.

+ Marvin Jones, dealing with a sore hamstring, should be returning to the field soon. Despite missing time leading to Thursday's preseason game, Jones has been doing work on the side.

He might have played Thursday, if we're talking about a regular season game. Being as it's the first preseason game, a contest that's usually reserved for backup and bubble players, there was no need to further aggravate Jones' hamstring.

+ Andrew Hawkins' ankle injury could prevent the receiver from participating against Chicago in Sept. And there remains too much mystery to currently rule anything out.

One could argue that the injury is actually worse than what we're being led to believe, considering an announcement about it has been somewhat ignored.

Working for the Bengals is their depth, possibly minimizing the impact of Hawkins' injury. Once everyone else is healthy, the team's lineup would feature Marvin Jones and A.J. Green on the outside with Mohamed Sanu in the slot -- and that's when they're not applying Tyler Eifert in a duel tight end formation.

+ Don't expect Andrew Whitworth to return soon. We believe that he could probably play tomorrow for a regular season game, but the team is clearly taking his rehabilitation slowly.

The team wants to continue strengthening his surgically repaired knee. Yet at some point, he'll have to return to rebuild his stamina so that he'll be in football shape by Chicago.

+ There are only five practices remaining before training camp concludes. The team will practice at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday. This Sunday will be the team's second Family Night, starting at 6 p.m. Camp concludes with an 11 a.m. session on Thursday, Aug. 15.