The Cincinnati Bengals began their first day of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday and tight end Tyler Eifert was unable to participate with a medical issue.
As the Cincinnati Bengals began their first day of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, tight end, Tyler Eifert was unable to participate due to a medical issue. It seems that head coach Marvin Lewis was unaware of any medical problems involving Eifert according to Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati has been very cautious with him during OTA workouts giving him limited reps so finding out about a medical issue is not something that is ideal for a team relying on health offensively.
Eifert signed a one-year deal this offseason with incentives for playing time and production. The star tight end has failed to stay healthy for an entire season during his first five seasons with the club and has only played in ten games of the last two seasons. His injuries in the previous two years are part of the collapse in the Bengals offense.
Undergoing multiple surgeries on his knee and back, it’s hard to be optimistic about Eifert making it a full season in 2018 and it seems that the medical issues have already begun. We can only hope that this is something very minor and will not cause any time missed. If they are still without him in training camp come last July, it will become a significant concern.
This is precisely why I think the Bengals can’t afford to build their offense around Eifert. In fact, I believe that offensive coordinator Bill Lazor should be building this offense under the assumption that Eifert isn’t available and they are using Tyler Kroft.
Left tackle Cordy Glenn has missed time the last two seasons due to injury, wide receiver John Ross missed most of his rookie season due to shoulder injuries, and rookie center Billy Price has yet to get full practice in since he’s not medically cleared from his injury suffered at the combine. The offense is relying on too many players being healthy to have success in 2018.
Tyler Eifert was one of three #Bengals not dressed today, which came as a bit of a surprise to Marvin Lewis - he was/is in the building and said only reason he’d be out is for medical reasons.
— Jim Owczarski (@JimOwczarski) June 12, 2018
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We will wait to see what comes of Eifert “medical issue”, but it’s certainly concerning that he’s already having issues when the team has limited him and been extremely cautious. What will happen when it’s time to play an actual game?