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| It's not clear how long Cook could be out. (US Presswire) |
While the Steelers received relatively good news when rookie guard David DeCastro avoided injured reserve after suffering a serious knee injury in Saturday's preseason game, the AFC North rival Bengals could now be down two starting offensive linemen less than two weeks before the regular season begins.
Guard Travelle Wharton was lost for the year after a knee injury in the team's preseason opener, and the Cincinnati Enquirer's Joe Reedy reports that center Kyle Cook could "miss a large amount of time" following a foot injury in Thursday's preseason loss to the Packers.
Coach Marvin Lewis said Monday that Cook was visiting a specialist about his foot and wouldn't play in Thursday's final preseason game against the Colts. Reedy reports that undrafted rookie free agent Trevor Robinson took snaps at center during Monday's practice and that former Browns first-round pick Jeff Faine was coming to town for a tryout Tuesday.
Cook previously suffered a foot injury in 2008 that forced him to miss the season. And while his status for 2012 remains unclear, he seems a long shot to play in the Bengals' season opener against the Ravens.
Faine, meanwhile, spent the first three years of his career in Cleveland, was traded to the Saints in 2006 (where he was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2007) and eventually signed with Tampa Bay in 2008. The Bucs released him in March and he's been out of work since.
Losing Cook would be a blow to an offensive line that ranked No. 4 in pass protection last season, according to Football Outsiders. But there's no time to bemoan their misfortune; the Bengals have two weeks until they travel to Baltimore to face one of the league's most menacing defenses.
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