Bengals end Jeremy Hill’s season, placed on injured reserve
By Emile Pierce
The Cincinnati Bengals placed running back Jeremy Hill on injured reserve. Hill suffered an ankle injury that may end his time in the Queen City.
When things go bad for the Cincinnati Bengals, they go bad in a hurry. The injury bug has reared its head in a big way. On the eve of another crucial road game, Jeremy Hill has been placed on injured reserve. Hill’s year is effectively over before it got a chance to actually go anywhere.
Hill began the year as the incumbent starter among the running backs, but never really got things going. After looking healthy and showing signs of change in the Bengals’ opener against the Ravens, his productivity has been sparse.
Hill had been a scratch for the Bengals’ Week 10 showdown with the Tennessee Titans. But, the decision to end his season comes as a surprise. The fourth-year back has been able to fight his way through nagging injuries the past two seasons and put up decent numbers. Yet, he was never able to reclaim the fire and passion that helped him gain 1,124 yards on the ground in 2014.
Though is production slipped, Hill was still a workhorse for the Bengals. In his first three years with Cincinnati, he missed just one regular season game. That was the 2016 home finale against the Baltimore Ravens. He was replaced by Rex Burkhead who has since moved on to the New England Patriots.
Time could be up
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Hill’s journey onto the IR list comes at the worst possible time. The 2017 campaign is the end of his rookie contract and he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Looking at Hill’s numbers over the past two seasons would give the Bengals reason to let him walk in free agency.
After drafting former Oklahoma Sooner Joe Mixon, the writing was immediately on the wall. Hill’s touches had dropped and he was seeing considerably less playing time.
Limited action
In seven games, this year, Hill has 37 rushes for 116 yards. Those numbers will hardly give him a decent resume for teams willing to toss money at him next season.
His stats for the past two years are highlighted by his 2016 performance. He ended that campaign with 1,013 all-purpose yards and nine TDs.
But, when the Bengals drafted Mixon, Hill went on record saying he wasn’t worried about the move.
"“You know you don’t take a running back in the second round and put him on the shelf. Obviously, Joe is gonna get his carries, and they extended Gio, so he’s gonna obviously get his play too. For me, really, I can’t focus on all of those things. For me, the best-case scenario is I win the job and get the bulk load of the carries, and that’s what I’m preparing myself for, and we’ll just go from there.”"
This may be the end of Hill’s time in Orange and Black. But, that’s in the hands of Mike Brown.