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As we've seen time and again, Marvin Lewis doesn't like sharing information regarding his injured players. Such is the case with Andy Dalton who fractured his thumb on December 13th in the Bengals' Week 14 loss to the Steelers.
Now, the Bengals are preparing to play the Steelers again, this time, in the Wild Card round of the 2016 NFL playoffs. On Monday, Lewis met with the media and when the topic of Andy Dalton's injury came up, Lewis wanted no part in the conversation.
Lewis said as of now, the team is planning to start AJ McCarron at quarterback, and that he has no updates to share on Dalton.
Marvin took two questions on update of Andy Dalton and if he could play this Sunday. He answered both in 6 seconds. pic.twitter.com/LABfA1ieS0
— Joe Danneman (@FOX19Joe) January 4, 2016
Dalton was expected to meet with doctors today to hopefully get the cast removed from his right thumb. Getting the cast off wouldn't mean Dalton would play this weekend, he likely would still be unable to play even if the cast came off today. But, it would be a step in the right direction and a promising sign as for his availability if the Bengals win on Saturday against the Steelers and advance to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. If the Bengals beat the Steelers, they will travel to New England to play the Patriots.
Lewis did not share the results of Dalton's doctor appointment at any point during his Monday afternoon press conference. "We have to go into the week, obviously, regardless of Andy's status, right now we're going to into at least the early part of the week preparing with AJ," Lewis said according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
It is still possible Dalton could play this weekend, but as of now, it's not looking likely.
Dalton is still doing some drills and conditioning work, per the Enquirer's conversation with the quarterback. "I'm doing more strengthening and making sure my conditioning's there, running and cardio and things like that," Dalton said Friday. "The footwork and stuff I should have down by now. That's muscle memory. But I'm just trying to keep doing whatever I can."