Trayveon Williams Injury: Bengals suffer another setback following Joe Burrow’s calf strain
First, there was Joe Burrow and now it is Trayveon Williams. The Cincinnati Bengals running back is the latest member of the team to take a tumble and fall victim to injury.
Unlike Burrow, who pulled up in open play, Williams injured himself in the specific ball security drills for the running back position. He injured his right ankle and went down on the turf.
He remained there for a few minutes before the trainers called for the cart to take him to the locker room. It was later revealed that it was a right ankle injury.
How long will Trayveon Wiliams be out?
Until and unless tests are conducted, it is tough to know the exact length of time the running back will be out. But from insider reports, it has emerged that it is expected to be a mild ankle sprain and the player should be back in a couple of weeks.
This is, in fact, good news for the Cincinnati Bengals because, coupled with the injury to Joe Burrow, this could have thrown their offense off-kilter if it had stretched into the season.
Even the quarterback is expected to be back before the regular season begins, but some estimates have him missing the first two weeks.
Joe Burrow injury issue for the Bengals
Even in the best-case scenario, the Bengals' preparedness will be thrown out of whack as two key components of the offense will not get to train together in practice. An effect of this was seen last season when Joe Burrow missed 19 days of practice because of appendicitis.
Although he was back for the beginning of the regular season last year, they lost their first two games and did not breach the 30-point mark until Week 6.
Given how loaded the AFC is this year, with teams like the New York Jets and Denver Broncos looking to be competitive, this is not good news for the Bengals. As always, their only succor is that it could have been worse.
Bengals RB depth chart
Following the injury to Trayveon Williams, the three running backs on Cincinnati's depth chart are Joe Mixon, Chase Brown and Chris Evans. Mixon, who signed a contract to keep him with the Bengals in the offseason, is the main running back while Brown and Williams were supposed to be on the first rotation.
This role will now, in all probability, be served by Brown. Even if the injured running back is back before the first game of the season, if he has not had sufficient practice, the coaching staff might not want to risk him.