The injury news was mixed for the Bengals in the opener, as middle linebacker Rey Maualuga seemed to escape the worst, while the worst is feared for left guard Travelle Wharton.
“I got good news from the trainer,” Maualuga told Geoff Hobson of the Bengals’ official website. “Tomorrow we’ve got off and I could be back Sunday for practice.”
Defensive end Carlos Dunlap wasn’t as forthcoming after spraining his knee, but Hobson called the news “devastating” for Wharton.
Wharton, who tore his left ACL in 2006 as a member of the Panthers, injured his right knee Friday night.
Hobson wrote that “the fear is he has suffered a season-ending right knee injury.”
That worst-case scenario could send the Bengals looking for some experience on the interior line.