Dalton has fracture in throwing hand

[CGI_Ram]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14356358/andy-dalton-cincinnati-bengals-leaves-game-thumb-injury

CINCINNATI -- Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton said he suffered a fracture in his throwing hand during Sunday's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and is uncertain how long he will be out.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said Dalton will miss next week's game against San Francisco but acknowledged he did not know whether the quarterback will miss any additional time.

Dalton, who will see a specialist Monday, left the game in the first quarter with what the Bengals listed as a thumb injury and did not return.

After initially being declared questionable to return, Dalton was downgraded moments later and returned to the sideline with a black cast around his right hand.

Dalton was hurt at some point during the Bengals' opening drive -- one that ended with him throwing an interception to Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt.

In addition, tight end Tyler Eifert was knocked out of the game during the Bengals' opening drive and placed under the concussion protocol after taking a hard hit to the head from Steelers defender Mike Mitchell, who was flagged for hitting a defenseless receiver.

Dalton was attempting to get the ball to running back Giovani Bernard on a screen, but Tuitt moved right by Bernard, guessed correctly and picked off the pass. Dalton immediately stepped up to tackle him. It's unclear if he was hurt on that play, but cameras appeared to show his right hand hitting Tuitt's knee on the tackle.

 

[RamFan503]

Did they really lose a step wit McCarron? I smell QB controversy.

 

[wolfdogg]

Who are they kidding? Broken thumb on throwing hand? He's done for the season and probably the playoffs.

 

[rams2050]

Bengals experiencing some Rams' luck.

 

[Dodgersrf]

Total shame. He was having a great year.

 

[RaminExile]

Dalton done. So this means the Bengals will actually win a game in the postseason amirite???

 

[RamsFan14]

Did they really lose a step wit McCarron? I smell QB controversy.

Highly doubt it! I'm sure the people who don't like Dalton are excited to see what they have in McCarron, but Dalton's been killing it this year! I'd be shocked if there is a QB controversy (assuming McCarron plays very well) once Dalton is healthy, he's been too good to bench.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Report he might be lost for season:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...likely-miss-rest-season-fractured-right-thumb

 

[den-the-coach]

They will rally around A.J. McCarron and they will play good football!

 

[rhinobean]

Is smell another short playoff season for the Bengals! Tough to take for their fans as Dalton was playing good! I'd take him for 2 seconds!

 

[ChrisW]

Let's see how AJ plays the rest of the year. He might be a trade option after we bring Hue Jackson in to coach

 

[FRO]

Let's see how AJ plays the rest of the year. He might be a trade option after we bring Hue Jackson in to coach

My thoughts exactly.

 

[MountainRam]

Let's see how AJ plays the rest of the year. He might be a trade option after we bring Hue Jackson in to coach

This.

 

[SuperMan28]

Just in team for CIN to embarrass themselves in the Playoffs. They may not even beat SF next week without him.

 

[lockdnram21]

My thoughts exactly.

They would probably trade Dalton if AJ light. It up.

 

[FRO]

They would probably trade Dalton if AJ light. It up.

Fine with that. We need a QB and we probably won't be in position to get Lynch or Goff.

 

[Prime Time]

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/12/14/andy-dalton-thumb-injury-panthers-perfect-week-14-nfl

A pall over Paul Brown Stadium

On the Cincinnati Bengals bench Sunday afternoon, offensive coordinator Hue Jackson and quarterback Andy Dalton sat down after their first possession of the day had ended in quasi-disaster—an interception by Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt at the Pittsburgh seven-yard line. Dalton submarine-tackled him and went to the bench to plot the next series.

“We were a little pissed off,” Jackson said Sunday night. “We sat down, and we both said, basically, The guy made a hell of a play.”

Then Dalton started trying to flex his fingers. “I think I hurt my thumb,” he said.

On the tackle, he explained. The more Dalton tried to bend it, the more he realized the thumb wouldn’t move. He got a football, and he couldn’t maneuver his hand on the ball.

“I can’t grip the football,” Dalton said.

“TRAINER!” Jackson called out. Medics came over, and they took Dalton underneath the stands to X-ray his thumb. Busted.

Sunday was going to be a sweet day for the Bengals. Challenging, but potentially division-changing. If they could win in Cincinnati, with a crowd lusting to beat the hated Pittsburghers, Cincinnati would clinch the AFC North for the third time since 2009. Baltimore and Pittsburgh have won the division twice apiece since then.

The Bengals would have a season sweep over Pittsburgh for only the second time this century. Pittsburgh would seriously endanger its playoff chances, falling one game plus the tiebreaker behind both the Chiefs and Jets with three to play. Dalton might not be in Ben Roethlisberger’s league in the eyes of most, but he would be 4-3 versus Roethlisberger in recent meetings, and his case for the 2015 MVP would blow Big Ben’s out of the water.

Then Dalton made his first solo tackle of 2015. And everything changed. Pittsburgh won 33-20, keeping the division alive. More importantly, how long will Dalton be out? Coach Marvin Lewis said Dalton will miss the first game of his pro career Sunday in Santa Clara, after making 81 straight starts since being drafted in 2011. Beyond that, suspicions are that he’ll miss more.

Dalton will see a hand specialist today, and then the team will know how long he’ll be out. The first playoff weekend is 26 days away; the second playoff weekend, should Cincinnati get a bye, is 33 days away. If the Bengals hang on to win the AFC North, will there be enough time for Dalton’s fracture to heal in an area so important to throwing the ball?

We shall see. For now the Bengals have a two-game lead and need one win in their final three games—at Niners, at Broncos, Ravens at home—to wrap up the division. Sounds like a cinch, except when you consider that Dalton’s backup, A.J. McCarron, has never started an NFL game. He started 40 in college, however, at the highest level.

McCarron was 36-4 for Alabama, and you can bet Jackson will imbue his offense this week with a confidence borne of demonstrated ability in big college games. McCarron won back-to-back national championships with the Crimson Tide, completing 67 percent of his passes, with 77 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, in his four years in Tuscaloosa.

Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images
AJ McCarron has appeared in four games for the Bengals this season.

But there’s a reason he lasted until the fifth round of the 2014 draft. He doesn’t have a particularly strong arm—he floated a ball to the sideline Sunday that the Steelers’ William Gay intercepted and returned for a touchdown. He’s OK athletically. What McCarron will need Sunday against the Niners are options, particularly in short and intermediate areas.

And with ace tight end Tyler Eifert in the NFL concussion protocol, that could be a problem. Eifert has been a perfect middle-of-the-field security blanket for Dalton, who has fed him for 12 touchdowns.

“We’re going to find enough good things A.J. can do,” said Jackson. “I’m not discouraged. I’m frustrated for Andy and for our team, because he has worked so hard and played so well. A.J. hasn’t take many reps with the [first unit], so he’s getting thrown into the fire. But he is a football junkie. He wanted to get together with me tonight—to start meeting about the week and the plan. This young man will make things happen, good things.”

I asked Jackson what he said to Dalton as the two men left the stadium Sunday.

“I said, ‘I love you,’” Jackson said. “He was good. He’s a strong guy. He’s worked so hard, and this was such a freak thing. You wonder, ‘How do those things happen? Why do they happen?’ I wish we had that play back, but there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

Nothing except getting A.J. McCarron ready to win some games if the Dalton prognosis is as feared, so this Cincinnati season isn’t for naught.

 

[Psycho_X]

Agree with others I'd like to see how McCarron does, if he plays well it's never a bad thing to have a possible starter (whether its maccarron or Dalton) possibly on the trade block.