Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor provided an injury update on starting guard Lucas Patrick following the Week 1 win over the Browns.
Patrick left the game on Sept. 7 in the first quarter with a calf injury and was unable to return.
“Lucas Patrick will be a couple weeks, and so we’ll make some decisions there,” Taylor said. “Other than that, everyone came up pretty clean.”
Taylor said Patrick is expected to miss a couple of weeks with his injury. Dalton Risner will start in place of Patrick.
The Bengals signed Risner on Aug. 28 ahead of the regular season. He only had two fully padded practices before suiting up and playing 69 percent of the snaps in the 17-16 win over Cleveland.
Risner earned huge praise from several of his teammates, including quarterback Joe Burrow, for being ready to go after signing with the team just 11 days before the season-opener.
“Dalton did great,” Burrow said. “He got here in the middle of last week. The operation was clean. We have a lot of different silent cadences, and I thought he handled it well. That right guard spot has to be a smart player, especially on the road to handle all of those cadences and turn his head around and get a quick snapshot of the defense and know what to do quicker than anybody else because he’s not looking at the defense. So credit to him for being ready. He’s a veteran player. He knows what it takes, so I’m excited to keep playing with him.”
It’s rare in the NFL for a player with as much experience as Risner has as a starter to be available in late August. The acquisition of Risner could end up being one of the Bengals’ biggest signings of the year.
Risner has 81 career starts in his seven-year NFL career.
With Risner filling in for Patrick, Taylor and his coaching staff can create their game plan for the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0) with full confidence at the right guard spot.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bengals guard Lucas Patrick expected to miss ‘a couple weeks’ after injury vs. Browns
Reporting by Kelsey Conway, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
