Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton’s recovery from a fractured right thumb took a step forward on Monday.
Bob Holtzman of ESPN reports that Dalton had the cast protecting the injury removed after visiting with doctors, but that doesn’t clear him to return to the lineup against the Steelers on Saturday night. Dalton will now have to see how well he can grip and throw the ball, which leaves coach Marvin Lewis prepping AJ McCarron to make another start this weekend.
“We have to go into the week, obviously, regardless of Andy’s status, right now we’re going to into at least the early part of the week preparing with AJ,” Lewis said, via the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It’s important for the football team.”
If the Bengals are going to keep the door open for Dalton to start this weekend, they will likely go deep into the week before making any pronouncement about who will be in the lineup. Based on the reports out of Cincinnati over the last couple of weeks, that pronouncement will likely be that McCarron will start.