The Cincinnati Bengals got some tough injury news on Monday morning during head coach Zac Taylor’s press conference. Starting RG Lucas Patrick, a free agent signee this past offseason after last playing with the Bears, left Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns with a calf injury.
Yeah, Lucas Patrick will be [out] a couple weeks,” Taylor said. “So we’ll make some decisions there.” One reporter noted Patrick was wearing a leg sleeve during training camp and asked Taylor if he’d been dealing with a calf injury this whole time. “There was a couple things [Patrick] was dealing with in camp,” Taylor responded, declining to dive into specifics.
It sounds like more moves may be coming for the Bengals, especially if Patrick will miss extended time. Their options behind him at guard are limited.
“I don’t think that was the reason why,” Taylor said on if Patrick’s absence harmed their rushing attack. “I thought he played well when he was in there. I thought Dalton [Risner] did well in the run game when he was in there as well, so that’s not a one-for-one correlation there on why the second half wasn’t as good. That was an overall unit thing, that was a coaching thing, that was an everyone involved in the offense thing.”
HC Zac Taylor Praises G Dalton Risner’s Performance in Relief
Steph Chambers/GettySEATTLE, WASHINGTON – SEPTEMBER 12: Dalton Risner #66 of the Denver Broncos looks on before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on September 12, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
C Ted Karras called Risner’s performance a “stunning display of football professionalism,” extremely high praise indeed. One reporter quoted Karras to Taylor during his press conference and asked if he agreed.
“I mean, that was his second time in full pads,” Taylor said. Risner didn’t sign with the Bengals until August 28, and he didn’t spend training camp with another team. That meant he missed all of OTAs, mini-camp, and training camp, only practicing with the team in the last week.
“I mean Thursday’s practice, Sunday’s game. That’s difficult. The above the neck stuff he’s got, the experience he’s got. He obviously did a great job staying in shape, to where he was ready to go. I thought he did a great job getting through the game, he was durable and the conditioning was fine. But you can’t simulate the body blows and the hits on your body, and I’m sure the soreness he experiences right now, which is probably something our guys feel on day two of training camp with the pads on.”
“So he’s just experiencing that at a different time. But I mean, I just saw him — he’s doing everything he can to take his body, get his body back, and we’ll give him a couple days here to do that.”
Tough Day for the Cincinnati Bengals Offense in Win
They got the win — a division win no less — but it wasn’t a banner day for the Bengals offense. They didn’t score a single point after halftime and had merely seven yards of total offense in the final two quarters. That’s not a typo, they only had seven yards of offense after halftime.
Cincinnati’s offense is usually one of the best in the league, with QB Joe Burrow and WRs Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins lighting up opponent after opponent. The Bengals are infamous for their slow starts to the season, but this time, their lackluster performance still resulted in a win.
Bengals Get Bad News on Injury to Starting Offensive Lineman After Browns Win