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The Bengals have already experienced a number of injuries after five training camp sessions. Let’s go through each of them and break down what we know, what we don’t know and how long each of the injured players will remain off-the-field.
William Jackson III, CB
Injury: Torn pectoral
Timetable: Unknown; potentially season-ending.
What we know: The injury occurred during Monday’s closed training camp session. Jackson is getting a second opinion but it’s very possible he will miss most of, if not all of his rookie season.
Darqueze Dennard, CB
Injury: Ankle sprain
Timetable: About one week (update)
What we know: Dennard hurt his ankle in Monday’s practice. After it happened he did return to practice but he didn’t practice on Tuesday. The injury will likely limit him in the preseason. This is Dennard’s third straight training camp with the Bengals and third straight training camp being injured. Assuming Dennard faces no setbacks, he should be back for the season opener. The Bengals did re-sign Corey Tindal today after cutting him two weeks ago and could look to bring back Leon Hall due to the combination of Jackson and Dennard’s injuries.
Tyler Kroft, TE
Injury: Jammed/hyperextended knee
Timetable: According to Bengals.com, Kroft “looks to have plenty of time” to play in the Bengals’ Week 1 matchup against the Jets. He may not play in the preseason though.
What we know: Kroft went down on Tuesday with a knee injury toward the end of practice. He was carted off the field and had an MRI on Wednesday. Assuming Hobson’s timeline for Kroft’s return is accurate, Kroft could be rusty in the Bengals’ season opener, a game in which Tyler Eifert may not play. This is definitely better than what many expected when Kroft originally went down with the injury, but the Bengals really have no room for further injuries at the tight end position.
Jake Kumerow, WR
Injury: Hamstring strain
Timetable: Unknown
What we know: Kumerow hasn’t practiced since Sunday, a session he left early. It isn’t known exactly what happened nor when Kumerow may return. What we do know is that for every day he’s not on the field his chances of making the final roster decrease just a bit. Hopefully, Kumerow can get back to action soon.
Trevor Roach, LB
Injury: Unknown
Timetable: Unknown
What we know: Roach left Sunday’s session early and hasn’t practiced since.
Shawn Williams, S
Injury: Unknown
Timetable: Unknown
What we know: Williams was late to practice on Tuesday and left early. He walked off the field with trainers and it’s unclear what his injury or issue is.
Matt Lengel, TE
Injury: Unknown
Timetable: Unknown:
What we know: Lengel didn’t practice on Tuesday. It’s unclear why he missed practice.
PUP/NFI List
Vontaze Burfict, LB
Injury: Unknown
Timetable: Unknown, but Burfict is not expected to miss any regular-season time.
What we know: No one knows why Burfict isn’t practicing with the Bengals. He has been on the rehab field in sweatpants doing work with trainers. But, as he’s on the Non-Football Injury list and can’t practice with the team until he’s medically cleared to do so. Marvin Lewis announced before training camp began that he wasn’t planning on playing Burfict in the preseason. He’s proven he doesn’t need much time to go from 0 to 100 and hopefully that will prove true when he returns from his suspension in Week 4 of the regular season. Right now, it’s unclear when Burfict will get back to practicing with his teammates.
Tyler Eifert, TE
Injury: Loose ankle ligament
Timetable: On May 25, 2016 it was announced Eifert would have surgery on his ankle and that it would take three months to recover. Hobson calls him “iffy” to play in Week 1 and other reports have stated he could miss up to four weeks of regular-season action.
What we know: Eifert originally injured his ankle in the Pro Bowl on January 24th. The hope was originally that it was just a sprain and that it would heal on its own. That never happened. After four months of waiting for the ankle to heal, Eifert had to proceed with surgery on his ankle to fix the damage. That surgery occurred just before the beginning of June and will keep him out for at least the duration of training camp and the preseason games. The Bengals would be lucky if he’s ready for Week 1’s game against the Jets.
Brandon Thompson, DT
Injury: Torn ACL
Timetable: Thompson is likely to remain on the Physically Unable to Perform list to start the 2016 NFL season. If he does stay on the PUP list once the season begins, the Bengals would re-evaluate his status after Week 6 of the regular-season.
What we know: Thompson suffered a torn ACL in the Bengals’ final regular-season game of 2015 against the Baltimore Ravens. The Bengals still re-signed Thompson, who became a free agent in March, this offseason. The expectation at the time was that it was very possible he’d start the year on PUP. He currently is on PUP and there haven’t been any updates on his recovery.