If the injury, which occurred during Monday’s practice, is a full tear, Jackson likely would be lost for the season. But if the injury is less severe, the option of placing him on injured reserve with the designation for return would be a possibility. In that instance, the earliest Jackson could play would be Week 9.
“It’s been a bad day for him,” Lewis said. “Obviously the kid’s devastated by it, that he hurt himself. But it’s an unfortunate part of football.”
And the unfortunate nature of the game reared its head again late in practice when tight end Tyler Kroft went down with a knee injury and left the field on a cart. Lewis said he didn’t have any information on Kroft’s injury, but losing him for any amount of time would be a big blow.
Kroft was in line to replace Pro Bowl tight end Tyler Eifert while he recovers from May ankle surgery.
Meanwhile, cornerback Darqueze Dennard sat out Tuesday’s practice with a sprained ankle, which means the team’s first-round picks from 2016, 2014 and 2013 are currently unavailable.
Injuries have been a theme with the team’s first-round picks, going back to 2012 when cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick suffered an injury prior to training camp and played sparingly in the final five games of the season, appearing in four percent of the team’s defensive snaps.
Eifert appeared in 15 games as a rookie in 2013 but played eight snaps in 2014 before suffering a season-ending elbow injury. He missed three games last year (neck, concussion) and his status for the Sept. 11 in New York remains in limbo pending his recovery from recent surgery.
Dennard appeared in six percent of the defensive snaps as a rookie in 2014 before seeing more action last year. He made his first start Nov. 22 in Arizona and suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.
And last year the Bengals drafted tackle Cedric Ogbuehi while he was rehabbing an ACL injury suffered in his final college game. He missed the first 11 games before being activated and playing six percent of the offense snaps in the final five contests.
While Lewis characterized Jackson as devastated, cornerback is the arguably the position group most capable of sustaining such a loss due to its depth. In addition to starters Kirkpatrick and Adam Jones, others on the roster are Josh Shaw, last year’s fourth-round pick who has been working at safety since OTAs; Chris Lewis-Harris, a fourth-year player who joined the Bengals as an undrafted college free agent; Chykie Brown, a fifth-year player in his first season in Cincinnati, and undrafted rookie free agent Darius Hillary.
But with the injuries to Jackson and Dennard, there is a chance the Bengals could sign another cornerback. One possibility is 2007 first-round pick Leon Hall, who is a free agent after playing nine seasons in Cincinnati.
“We’ve been in contact with players all the time,” Lewis said. “We’ll decide what’s the best option based on what the projection on Will is.”
Asked if he thinks there is interest on both sides for a Hall return, Lewis said, “Oh, yeah.”
About the Author