The Cincinnati Bengals won’t put on full pads until Monday afternoon’s practice, but there still have been a couple injuries so far in no-pad and shoulder pad-only practices.
Jake Kumerow suffered an ankle sprain on Friday and has been in a walking boot ever since. According to ESPN, he’ll remain in the walking boot for a few more days before he returns to practice.
Michael Johnson and Wallace Gilberry both spent time on the rehab field during the weekend with undisclosed injuries. No one from inside the Bengals’ organization has spoken up on why the defensive linemen have sat out of team drills and practices. Neither participated on Saturday or Sunday. At first, it seemed they were just getting a rest day, but when the rest continued on Sunday, it became clear they were experiencing issues.
Sunday was a bad day for Bengals safeties as George Iloka and Derron Smith both encountered injuries. It’s believed Iloka hyperextended his knee, per Bengals.com, and it doesn’t sound like he’ll be out of commission for too long. That’s good news as the Bengals certainly need their starting safety come Week 1 of the regular season.
It’s unknown just how bad Smith’s ankle injury is, but both he and Iloka had MRIs on Sunday after practice, so we should know more soon. Smith had to be carted off the field toward the end of practice.
Before the start of camp, the Bengals placed rookie safety Brandon Wilson on the Active/Non-Football Injury (NFI) list. He’s battling back from a knee injury, which was suffered during rookie minicamp back in May. As soon as he’s cleared to practice, he will be removed from the NFI list. He was on the rehab field all weekend, which is a good sign. With the Bengals now down three safeties, the position group is suddenly quite thin.
Starter Shawn Williams and backup Clayton Fejedelem remain with undrafted rookie Demetrious Cox rounding out the group. Cornerback Josh Shaw also has practiced at safety and took reps there during the weekend. Don’t be surprised to see a rookie safety signed as a camp body as long as Iloka and Smith are off-the-field. The Bengals reportedly worked out a rookie safety before the injuries even occurred to Iloka and Smith.
The Bengals worked out safety DeJuan Rogers, an undrafted rookie free agent out of Toledo, per source.
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) July 29, 2017
Also on injury lists are running back Cedric Peerman (Active/NFI) and running back Jarveon Williams (Active/Physically Unable to Perform - PUP). Both can come off those lists as soon as they’re medically cleared.
Over the weekend, the Bengals waived rookie wide receiver Monty Madaris due to a failed physical. He cleared waivers and is now on the Reserve/PUP list.
While it’s far from ideal to see all these players injured, there’s hope that none of the injuries are significant. On the bright side, Giovani Bernard and Tyler Eifert have been full participants in training camp and John Ross has been limited but getting in a good amount of work. He’s expected to be 100 percent recovered from his March shoulder surgery relatively soon.