Kenny

Irons

Irons tore his left ACL in the preseason opener last week. Kenny Watson and Quincy Wilson are currently competing to be Rudi Johnson’s primary backup.

He’s currently sporting a boot at the team’s practice facility and “in a non-weight bearing deal,” according to Lewis. The Bengals aren’t counting on production from Perry, having drafted Kenny Irons and signed Kenny Watson.

The rookie reportedly showed his quick feet and 4.4 speed during the practice game, but fumbled once and was stuffed on the goal line. The smallish Irons often had difficulties in short yardage while at Auburn.

The Auburn product didn’t have any fumbling problems in college, so maybe this is a fluke, but it’s obvious that the coaches are noticing his issue. He’ll be a nice handcuff to Rudi if he can stop putting the ball on the ground.

“What (having the complementary backs) can do is change tempo on the defense and keep fresh legs in the game,” RBs coach Jim Anderson says. Irons is working on his pass blocking to increase his versatility and game-day value. Watson is pretty much assured of a role on passing downs.

Devastating injury for Irons and the Bengals running game. The second-rounder was expected to challenge Rudi Johnson for carries and play a big role on passing downs. He still has a chance to be Cincy’s running back of the future, but the path will much harder now. With Chris Perry also ailing, Rudi Johnson and Kenny Watson will both benefit.

Irons was taken to the locker room in the second quarter after the injury, and was seen on crutches after the game. The severity of the injury is not known at this time, but it could be serious. He’ll have an MRI on Friday. Irons was expected to push Kenny Watson for the backup job behind Rudi Johnson.

Irons will step in and compete for the backup RB spot with Chris Perry out at least the first six weeks.

While that’s not exactly new information, the Cincy Enquirer is hinting that Perry could miss the whole season. The drafting of Kenny Irons was likely made with this knowledge.

Irons has plenty of time to get healthy by 2008 training camp, but needs to avoid setbacks for the Bengals to be confident in him as a No. 2 back.