Joe Mixon was hospitalized Saturday night before game vs. Jaguars

Before racking up 181 total yards and three touchdowns on Sunday afternoon, Joe Mixon was really close to not participating in the Cincinnati Bengals’ first win at all.

Mixon was a late addition to the injury report on Saturday afternoon due to what was labeled as a chest injury. It was reported that Mixon would be able to play later in the day, and as the late night turned to the early morning, Mixon’s condition only worsened.

During his post-game press conference, Mixon revealed he went to the hospital and stayed their for three hours due to issues breathing.

Mere hours after being discharged, Mixon showed up to Paul Brown Stadium to prepare for a game he wasn’t even sure he would be playing in. It was only after he went through warm ups that he was given the green light.

“I was in the hospital for about three hours yesterday, late last night,” Mixon said. “I didn’t know if I would play. This morning, see how I felt and doctors loved up on me and I was able to go out there and make some things work.”

Mixon said he first felt something wrong on Friday night, which is why he appeared on the injury report the next day.

“I think I slept wrong. I slept wrong, came to work and then I don’t know. It was like, I couldn’t breathe,” Mixon said. “(It) hurt to run in walk-through … I didn’t know if I would play, … I went out there and just gave it my all for my teammates, and like I said, everything was up in the air. But I made it happen.”

Thankfully, whatever was plaguing Mixon didn’t seem to affect him on Sunday. His performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars was among the best for running backs around the NFL this week.

This is a situation worth monitoring going forward, but for now, Mixon appears to have avoided something much more serious.