Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis told reporters Saturday that injured receiver Andrew Hawkins could be headed to injured reserve with the designation to return at some point during the season.
“Andrew was placed in a cast and he’ll be in the cast for another 10 days and go from there," Lewis said. "It allows the opportunity to make sure we don’t inadvertently injure it more. It gives it a chance to settle down and begin to mend. He’s very optimistic that he’ll be ready to go at some point here, so we’ll see. At least for the next 10 days or so he’s going to be in this cast. Then we’ll have a little better update after that.”
A 5-7, 180-pounder who played collegiately at Toledo, Hawkins was injured Aug. 1 during practice. He came to the Bengals as a college free agent two years ago and made the practice squad before becoming a dangerous option in the Bengals receiving corps. He caught 51 passes for 533 yards and four touchdowns last season after posting 23 grabs for 263 yards in his rookie season of 2011.
Hawkins is among a handful of Bengal receivers fighting injuries at this point in camp, but players such as Dane Sanzenbacher – another former college free agent who has two years of NFL service time, mostly with the Chicago Bears – have worked to fill the void.
The Bengals started their preseason opener Thursday against the Falcons in a two-tight end set with 2012 first-round pick Tyler Eifert and 2010 first-round pick Jermaine Gresham playing together while Mohamed Sanu and Brandon Tate started at wide receiver.
This is the second year of the NFL's "IR - designated to return" rule. Previously, a player had to be placed on season-ending IR or kept on the 53-man roster once the regular seasons starts.
