The Cincinnati Bengals got some great news on Shemar Stewart's injury, which turned out to be a mere hyperextension of his left knee. It could've been a lot worse, considering Stewart had to be carted off the field during the first day of open practice at Bengals training camp.
With a hat tip to FOX19's Jeremy Rauch, Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor did announce to the media that Stewart will miss several weeks. However, Taylor indicated that the 2025 first-round pick should be back "sooner rather than later."
What stands out most about Stewart's dodging of a potentially devastating situation is the fact that the very physical tools the Bengals fell in love with during the pre-draft process were what saved him.
'Naturally bendy' Stewart staves off catastrophic injury
When ESPN's Ian Rapoport reported the initial news on Shemar Stewart avoiding disaster, he used the phraseology "naturally bendy" To underscore the point that Stewart didn't have any ligament damage.
It looked really bad when Stewart went down on Wednesday. His knee bent the complete wrong way. Like it was going inward.
Stewart's awkward leg displacement didn't look too dissimilar to several awful knee injuries these eyes have seen in the past. In fact, to call back to some Ohio football lore, the brutal torn ACL Willis McGahee suffered in the national title game for Miami (Florida) against the victorious Ohio State Buckeyes sprung to my mind.
In other words, it's quite remarkable that Stewart managed to come away as cleanly as he did. But then it's not a total shock since he's built like a literal superhero at 6'5", 267 pounds.
Last season was a debacle and a half for Stewart. He held out during rookie contract negotiations for starters. I put a lot of that on the front office, too. They were tempting fate with that bad-faith act.
Nothing like getting your super-raw, uber-talented first-round pick off on the worst possible foot when he needs all the reps he can get, right? Stewart then proceeded to get injured in Week 2, and was not a good player at all from then on in as Cincinnati stumbled to a 6-11 record.
Had the injury been more severe, Stewart would've lost out on invaluable runway for his personal development. At Texas A&M, yes, he was a stout run defender, yet he also struggled to finish plays and make tackles. That carried over to the NFL, as did a lackluster pass rushing plan that translated to only 4.5 sacks in three years with the Aggies, and just one sack in 2025.
Most accounts of Stewart's offseason and what his teammates have said about him suggest he's putting in the work to get better. Let's hope he's back soon, because he could be the ultimate secret weapon on an already-ascending defense with even modest contributions.
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