Copyright Athlon Sports
The Bengals have experienced terrible injury luck with the quarterback position this year. Joe Flacco’s status for Sunday is uncertain because of a shoulder injury. Cincinnati signed Sean Clifford to the active roster in the event that Flacco can’t play. The Cincinnati Bengals finally fixed their early-season issues this year by starting 2-0 before disaster struck. Star quarterback Joe Burrow went down with turf toe and the team proceeded to lose three games in a row under the direction of backup Jake Browning. He was brutal in his relief of Burrow, prompting Cincinnati to trade for veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, who has been starting ever since. He’s had some up-and-down performances in the three games he’s played with the Bengals, but there is some concern he could miss this week’s game. Flacco has a shoulder injury and is listed as questionable for Sunday, so the team signed Sean Clifford from the practice squad. The former Penn State quarterback has only appeared in two games in his NFL career and neither were starts, so playing him is probably a last resort for Cincinnati. They could always go back to Browning and leave Clifford as the backup, but with how sluggish the offense looked earlier in the season, that seems unlikely. Truthfully, if Flacco misses this week’s matchup with the Chicago Bears, it would be a disaster for the Bengals. Their offensive line is shoddy and they’ve fielded one of the worst defensive units for the last few years, so they have next to no chance to win without a seasoned veteran under center. Cincinnati has given up at least 27 points seven separate times this season, so it’s tough to imagine Browning or someone who’s never started an NFL game putting up that many points. Flacco hasn’t been ruled out, but the Bengals are in trouble if it does happen.
