Who Dey notes: Bengals’ John Ross done, playoffs or bust
By Emile Pierce
The Cincinnati Bengals placed John Ross on injured reserve. Staying in the hunt for the playoffs just got a little harder.
Once again, something is amiss with the Cincinnati Bengals. You knew there was a chance things weren’t right with John Ross and it finally comes out. Fans were ready to see Mr. 422 get down and dirty on the field. Even those who doubted he would make a dent in the lineup wanted to witness that sound-barrier speed. But, it ain’t happenin’ this season. Throw the popcorn on the floor. Ross is ending the year on injured reserve. Yup. Sounds par for the course.
Just when you thought you’d be seeing that blazing speed create some openings and one-on-one matchups for A.J. Green, it all goes south in a handbag.
Well, there’s a real scratch…not a healthy one. Marvin Lewis recently revealed, per ESPN, Ross had been having problems with his shoulder that wasn’t surgically repaired. It had been giving him excruciating pain and his teammates had advised him to have something done.
"“He wanted to play, he wanted to keep going. He was having a hard time sleeping, he said the players kept telling him, ‘You have to say something and see what is going on.’”"
I really wanna believe that Marvin didn’t know about this little hiccup. But, with the way the Bengals season has gone, Ross could have been jacked up earlier in the year. Maybe he isn’t hurt at all. Ross could even be rolling with a Jeremy Hill move, to avoid dealing with the Bengals dumpster fire.
In short, Ross is going through something. It may not surface until next year. But, he’ll have a fresh and hopefully healthy start.
Grin and bear it
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After a disappointing and certainly predictable loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s time to play Keep Me in the Playoffs with the Chicago Bears.
At this point, the Bengals’ hopes for the playoffs have been crushed and sent through a paper shredder. After being handed an option to shape their destiny, they blew it. Now, it’s all about waiting for other teams to collapse. In other words, a ton of help is needed from teams that have cakewalk schedules. But, Andy Dalton remains confident about the situation.
"“At this point, we just have to handle our business and worry about what we can control, and that’s trying to win every game we play. We’ve been in this position before and made it. I think we made it our first year (2011). We had to have help, and we were able to make it happen and end the year 9-7. At this point, we’ve just got to win and hope everything falls into place.”"
If this seems like deja vu, don’t feel alone. The Bengals’ chances for the playoffs were kicked around by the Steelers last year.
Time for an easy four-game winning streak. Yeah, right. Mike Zimmer and the Vikings are waiting. Gotta love them Bengals.