Bengals injury news: John Ross “out a couple weeks” with knee injury

It looks like John Ross and the Cincinnati Bengals avoided disaster, but the latest news regarding the No. 9 overall pick is not great.

The Bengals were holding their breath after watching Ross go down Thursday night with a knee injury in the preseason finale against the Indianapolis Colts. It didn’t look serious when Ross was a bit gimpy after a big run in the first quarter, but after being examined by trainers on the sideline, he was sent to the locker room for further exams.

Now, Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson reports Ross could miss a few weeks of action, but the injury isn’t thought to be serious.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport adds it’s a knee sprain that is putting his availability for Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens in doubt.

Shortly after the injury occurred on Thursday night, Cincinnati announced Ross was questionable to return before later ruling him out. There was never any real concern from Ross or the team over the injury, according to Bengals.com.

“Nothing has been indicated,” Ross said after the game, with no signs of crutches or ice as he dressed. “Not yet. We’ll check it out. Probably not serious. I feel fine.”

However, there was concern, at least among fans and media, as this happened to a player who suffered multiple knee injuries in college, including a torn meniscus and MCL in 2014, then a torn ACL and meniscus tear in 2015. Ross also underwent microfracture surgery following the 2014 season.

While it’s good to see Ross should be fine, this isn’t a good sign for a player who was injury prone throughout college, not to mention he just got back from a shoulder injury, which he underwent surgery in March to repair.

Also, let’s just be frank: The Bengals drafted an injury-prone player, which meant he was certain to get hurt at one point or another. The Bengals have typically been one of the more snakebitten franchises under Marvin Lewis, so Ross was all but assured of having something go wrong.

Hopefully, this was it and all it does is keep Ross out a few games, at most. He has a world of potential and a bright career ahead of him. As long as he can stay healthy for the long term, he’s going to be a very special player in Cincinnati.

We’ll keep you posted as more details on the injury and recovery timetable become available. For now, we’re just hoping for a quick return from the Bengals’ first round rookie.