Recently, we wrote about how the Cincinnati Bengals were starting to develop a Sam Hubbard problem.
At face value, it looked like Hubbard getting his legs back under him after injuries and offseason ankle surgery were slowing him down over three games this season.
But as it turns out, Hubbard recently went on the radio with Dan Hoard (h/t BengalsTalk.com’s Jay Morrison) and revealed that his current hamstring injury could “linger” for the remainder of the season.
Perhaps the hamstring injury is more severe than the team initially realized, but this development comes as a surprise. Hubbard hasn’t been a staple of the injury report and isn’t on this week’s final report.
To this point in the season, Hubbard has been playing 75 percent of the snaps for the unit.
It’s a tough spot for all involved to be in right now. Former first-rounder Myles Muprhy was a big part of the plan but is on injured reserve. Joseph Ossai, as backed up by recent comments from a Bengals coach, can’t take a bigger workload. The other options are playing someone like K.J. Henry off the practice squad or rookie Cedric Johnson more.
No matter what the Bengals end up doing, the pass-rush being so lacking beyond Trey Hendrickson is crippling the defense and now there is apparently an issue hanging over a key starter that might impact things for the remainder of the season, too.
