The Cincinnati Bengals have benefitted this season from the rise of Tyler Eifert. The tight end started his career dealing with plenty of injuries, but he has been healthy this year as one of the team's top performers. However, as the Bengals prepare to play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Eifter might not be on the field as a neck injury appears to be more serious than expected.
According to Coley Harvey of ESPN.com, Eifter has yet to attend practice this week after suffering what was described as a neck string in Week 12. Following the game, the tight end stressed that he was fine and the issue was minor, but now he is officially doubtful to play in Week 13. If Eifert cannot get on the field, players like Marvin Jones and Tyler Kroft will need to step up as their workload will increase. Kroft got his first catch of the season in Week 12 and while he cannot fill the void of the tight end, he has the talent to make an impact.
The Bengals did get good news while Eifert sat out and that was a clean bill of health for Jeremy Hill. The running back exited the Week 12 game with an ankle injury, but according to CBSSports.com, the running back is good to go as a full participant in practice. That is good news for Cincinnati who have been enjoying a few big games from Hill. The running back has been the favorite over veteran Giovani Bernard as his carries increase each week.
The ground game has not been the strong suit of Cincinnati this season. In their loss to the Houston Texans the team totaled just 74 yards on the ground. Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson told the media that he is not concerned about the lack of rushing as he remains confident in both backs.
"I'm not concerned about the running game," Jackson said, via the team website. "We're trying to win games. It's not about running the ball. It's not the only thing we do. We throw the ball, too."
Against the Browns, the Bengals should take a look as rushing more than passing considering Eifert could be out. According to StripeHype.com, the power formation is where Hill has seen his most success and since he is coming off his best performance of the year, the momentum could carry into Cleveland. Ryan Hewitt will see more time on the field and having Hill run behind him could be successful for the Bengals. Force-feeding the pass could cause mistakes from Andy Dalton.
