Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback Dalton Suffers Fractured Thumb
Not only did the Cincinnati Bengals lose a game to AFC rivals Pittsburgh on Sunday they may have lost their starting quarterback for the rest of the season. Andy Dalton left the game early in the first half with a thumb injury later revealed to be a fracture. It will very likely keep him sidelined for the rest of the regular season with the ‘best case scenario’ affording him a return for the playoffs.
The loss was only the third of the year for the Bengals against ten wins. They’re still in control of the AFC North–the Steelers are in second place two games behind with a record of 8-5. But their remaining schedule just got significantly more difficult with the loss of Dalton. In his post game press conference head coach Marvin Lewis didn’t disclose much about Dalton’s injury, saying only that the quarterback would miss next week’s game against the San Francisco 49ers. Lewis indicated that he didn’t know the prognosis for Dalton beyond next week.
Dalton was a little more disclosing, at least about the circumstances surrounding the injury: “I hurt my thumb. They told me there is a fracture in there.” He continued to say that the injury occurred at the end of Cincinnati’s opening drive. The play resulted in an interception and at the time Dalton wasn’t aware he was hurt. He went to the sidelines and knew something was up when he couldn’t grip a football due to the pain. Dalton has never missed a start in his NFL career and his philosophy is not to fret about the possibility of injury: “You can’t go into any play thinking you’re going to get hurt. That’s the last thing you have to think. It’s unfortunate that it happened.”
The Bengals have been mum about their plans for a starting quarterback in Dalton’s absence. They could try and sign a free agent but the most likely course of action will be to turn to Dalton’s backup, AJ McCarron. McCarron impressed during his college career at Alabama and when drafted received high marks for his skills and intelligence. Now in his second year, he’s had limited playing time during the regular season but has the mentality necessary to start on Sundays. He gave a decent account of himself after coming in against Pittsburgh, passing for 280 yards and two touchdowns though he did throw two interceptions.