Drue Chrisman discusses return to Bengals after being hospitalized

The Cincinnati Bengals saw the return of their punter Drue Chrisman on Sunday. It was great to see, considering he had been hospitalized.

Apparently, his NFL future could have been in jeopardy.

“Sitting in a hospital a couple of weeks ago,” Chrisman told Bengals’ radio broadcaster Dan Hoard. “I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to put on the pads again. It definitely felt good to knock the rust off.”

It was never revealed exactly what caused Chrisman’s visit to the hospital. Speculation on what it could have been is just unfair to the punter, but it is very clear it was serious.

Unfortunately for Chrisman, this setback came at a terrible time for his spot on the Bengal’s roster. The Bengals drafted punter Brad Robbins in the sixth round to compete for the job. He has spent camp impressing with his hang time, and he had a mostly good preseason game.

But if you ask Chrisman, he doesn't believe the time he’s missed so far is a major setback.

“I don’t consider myself super far behind,” Chrisman told Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson. “When missing workout time, typically you lose cardio and speed first, and fortunately for my position, you don’t need too much of that. I felt strong. I felt good. Now every rep is even as meaningful as if I had a full training camp.”

At least Chrisman gets his opportunity to defend his spot for the rest of the preseason, and we will have to see how that progresses after Robbins created a head start for himself.