The Cincinnati Bengals have so far gotten just one touch out of their first-round pick, and it doesn’t sound as though he will be seeing his second in Heinz Field next week when the Pittsburgh Steelers host their AFC North rivals for the first time this season.
Wide receiver John Ross, who put himself in the map with a record-breaking 40-yard dash time at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine, has been dealing with a number of injuries since he was drafted in the early portions of the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
He was, of course, already dealing with an injury at the time he was drafted. And he has had an injury history dating back throughout his college career. No doubt there were teams who had off of at least their first-round boards because of injury concerns.
After missing most of the preseason, Ross suffered a knee injury in the finale, but he returned to play in the Bengals’ second game of the regular season. He played only a couple of snaps before he was given the ball on an end-around. He gained 12 yards on the play, but fumbled when he took a hard hit.
Ross said that he probably rushed back from his initial injury. “I just think I was pushing it. That’s probably a lot on my end not communicating” he told reporters in his return to practice yesterday for the first time in a month.
“I just wanted to get out there to try to prove myself. It’s a young mentality. Now I’m in a better state of mind and definitely treating it better as far as what I should be doing as opposed to what I think they want”, he went on. “I’ve always kind of felt pretty good, but I think it’s smart to not rush back into things”.
This was in an article on the team’s website in which author Geoff Hobson laid out bare that “it doesn’t sound like he’ll be ready for the Steelers”, so I wouldn’t expect to see the speedster out there. But they may not see Pittsburgh’s Tyler Boyd, either, who is also banged up from a knee injury. He did not practice yesterday.
Ross did say multiple times that he feels good, both before and after practicing for the first time after an extended layoff. “You never want to be sidelined, especially when it’s something you’ve never experienced before. It’s definitely good to finally be back out there”.
The Steelers will not see the Bengals again until all the way in week 13 in early December, where Cincinnati is scheduled to host them in prime time on Monday Night Football. One would think that Ross will be on his feet and running by then—assuming, of course, that he stays healthy once he does return.
