Bengals tight end Jermaine Gresham did some light work and some stretching Sunday morning for Cincinnati's wildcard game against the Indianapolis Colts. According to media reports, Gresham caught the football on the first throw but then slammed the football in disgust. One report added that Gresham is "not running around smoothly" while another added that "it doesn't look good" for Gresham, based on his body language. Gresham told Kimberly Jones with the NFL Network that he's still hopeful.
Jermaine Gresham not in WR/TE warm-up line catching passes from Dalton/Campbell. Not a good sign #Bengals
— Richard Skinner (@nkyskinner) January 4, 2015
Kimberly Jones with the NFL Network tweeted that Gresham won't play.
Gresham, who was listed as questionable this weekend, suffered a back injury during a touchdown reception last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bengals will release their inactive list at 11:30 a.m., which will include wide receivers A.J. Green and James Wright who are listed as out. Running back Cedric Peerman is also listed as questionable.
Obviously losing Gresham would signify a massive impact in the redzone for Cincinnati. Gresham has scored a touchdown in the last three games that he's played and five of the last six -- all from within the 13-yard line. Green and Gresham have a combined 11 touchdowns this season, or 57.9 percent of the Andy Dalton's 19 touchdown throws this season.
ESPN NFL Insider John Clayton, appearing on ESPN 1000 in Chicago, called Gresham's availability on Sunday REALLY questionable on Friday.
"When they say that Jermaine Gresham is questionable, he really is," Clayton said. "This one is going to go down to the wire and that will be a game-time decision. They don't know for sure if he's going to be able to play. So now it takes away most of the pass-catching threats. All you have is Mohamed Sanu and a bunch of slot guys and now you're down to your third tight end because Tyler Eifert never came back from his injury."