Bengals receiver John Ross’s season came to an end on Wednesday when it was revealed he needs surgery on his left shoulder. So why had coach Marvin Lewis said earlier in the day that Ross could play on Sunday?
The answer, Lewis says, is that Ross had been hiding his injury. Lewis told SiriusXM NFL Radio that Ross had been concealing the injury before finally “coming clean” with the team. Lewis said Ross was concealing the injury because he wanted to keep playing, which may be a good sign about his competitiveness but is a strict no-no in the NFL.
Ross missed most of training camp after offseason labrum surgery on his right shoulder. The newer injury is to his left shoulder.
The ninth overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, Ross was perhaps this year’s most disappointing rookie: He touched the ball only once all season, and fumbled that one time.