John Ross isn’t shedding his injury-prone label anytime soon.
That was the biggest knock on the former Washington Huskies receiver, but that didn’t stop the Bengals from taking him ninth overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. While the Bengals are 5-7 for a variety of reasons, getting no production from their first-round pick has to be among the biggest reasons they’re on pace for a second-straight losing season.
And with the season all but lost, playing Ross more over the final four games seemed like a certainty, even if he isn’t necessarily ready for a lot of snaps (as Marvin Lewis would have you believe).
Well, those plans may be scrapped before they even begin. On Wednesday, Ross was among nine Bengals who were unable to participate. Ross’ official injury designation was a shoulder, though it’s unclear if it’s the same shoulder he had surgically repaired this offseason.
While Ross was far from being the most important player to miss practice, seeing this perfectly sums up the 2017 Bengals and their struggles.
On Wednesday, Lewis made it sound like he was finally ready to activate Ross and give him significant snaps.
Then again, we should have known Lewis was full of it when he said this while joking about playing Ross at cornerback.
“I think he’ll have an opportunity. It might be at cornerback (laughs),” said Lewis of Ross playing in Week 14. “He’s done it, he’s played it (laughs). That was the first video I ever saw of John Ross, was him playing cornerback. But yes, this is a good opportunity for John to possibly be suited up this week. We just broke news again in here (laughs).”
Ross being unable to play when the Bengals are finally ready to activate him would be so 2017 Bengals.
Then again, do we really want him to play and help save Lewis’ job?