More than 15 months into his NFL career, Bengals quarterback A.J. McCarron still hasn’t played a live down against another team.
After a lingering shoulder injury kept him out of training camp last year and off the active roster until the end of last season, McCarron earned solid reviews for his work in the spring and summer. But what he called a “freak injury” suffered last Monday in practice -- a non-contact injury at that -- kept McCarron out of the Bengals-Giants joint practices on Tuesday and Wednesday and will likely keep him out of the preseason opener between the teams Friday.
The Bengals’ official website described this injury as “some sort of strain in the chest area” and called McCarron’s status day-to-day moving forward; another report called it an injury to his rib cage.
McCarron was emphatic that this injury is not related to the shoulder.
“People don’t need to worry about my shoulder,” McCarron told reporters. “My shoulder is great. It’s just a minor setback. (I’m) going to take the advice they give me. Trust me, I want to be out there. I hate watching practice. Period.”
McCarron, a fifth-round choice in 2014, is supposed to be Andy Dalton’s backup this season. His absence for the two days of practice with the Giants left the Bengals with Josh Johnson and Keith Wenning as the backup quarterbacks and probably increased the team’s desire to see him at full speed against NFL competition.
In the spring, McCarron told the Cincinnati Enquirer he understands Dalton is the starter but said he planned to compete with him through the summer and that he sees himself eventually as a $100 million quarterback.
