Cornerback Darqueze Dennard made the first start of his NFL career on Sunday night, but the wait for his next on-field appearance of any kind may stretch until 2016.
Dennard left the loss to the Cardinals in the third quarter with a shoulder injury and the team said after the game that they feared it would end his season. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Dennard dislocated the shoulder and that he’s having an MRI on Monday to confirm their feeling that he also suffered a tear.
Dennard started the game in place of Adam Jones, who was out with a foot injury, and left the Bengals to turn to Chris Lewis-Harris and Josh Shaw along with Dre Kirkpatrick and Leon Hall for the remainder of the night. The Bengals were as healthy as any team in the league in the first half of the season, but they’ve had a bit less luck on that front in the last few weeks.
Dennard, a 2014 first-round pick, had 20 tackles and an interception while playing in all 10 games this season.