Erick All’s day ended with the kind of injury the Bengals can’t afford to keep seeing.
The tight end was ruled out for the rest of Sunday’s game against Baltimore after hurting his right knee in the second half. It’s the same knee that has already been through surgeries in the past, and he was headed to the locker room shortly after the injury.
The team later posted on X: "TE Erick All Jr. has a right knee injury. He has been declared out.
S Kyle Dugger has a left quadriceps injury. He has been declared out."
All had been carving out a bigger role for Cincinnati lately, and the hope now has to be that this latest setback isn’t anything major again.
The injury hits a player who’s been getting more involved and who brings a style the Bengals clearly value. Earlier this month on First Word With James Rapien, All talked about Zac Taylor in glowing terms.
"I look at Zac as that type of coach that's very transparent; he'll tell you how he feels, and it just kind of surprised me hearing 'I'm surprised he hasn't done that with people in the past,'" All said. "Zac's a great coach; if he sees something that he doesn't like or that he wants you to fix, he'll voice it to you whether in practice, game, cameras on, it doesn't matter, and that's what I love about him."
Taylor has made the physical part of All’s game a point of emphasis, too. During OTAs this past summer, he said, "With the word physical in the dictionary is a picture of Erick All. Trying to put his face through somebody's soul."
All wasn’t the only Bengal dealing with a late-game issue. Bryan Cook was hurt in the second half and had trouble getting off the field, though he did not go into the blue medical tent. He’s been banged up in recent weeks, and backup safety Kyle Dugger also went down again as the injuries piled up late.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati was still trying to finish off a wild rally in the final minutes of its AFC North matchup with Baltimore. The Bengals were pushing for their third-ever double-digit comeback against the Ravens and were up 21-13 after the offense had ripped off 21 unanswered points in the second half.
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