Carl Lawson and the Cincinnati Bengals know quite well how quickly the injury bug can derail an entire season.
The Bengals suffered from this early last season when Tyler Eifert went down. Andy Dalton, A.J. Green and countless others followed throughout the course of the final season of the Marvin Lewis era.
It makes sense, then, Lawson was preaching health as a main ingredient for the Bengals next season, per NFL.com’s Kevin Patra:
“You can expect a lot, but at the same time, in this league, that’s what separates different teams, being able to be healthy throughout the season,” he said. “I think the main thing is being able to have that depth, and that carry over, so when things do happen. You know, because everybody’s like ‘Oh, well if we were healthy, if this or that, whatever,’ — not that many injuries as we had last year — but I think you can expect a lot from us.”
Lawson is speaking from personal experience, too. He played 16 games as a rookie and tallied 8.5 sacks before suffering a torn ACL in 2018, which limited him to seven games and a single sack.
Like mentioned names such as Dalton and Green, Lawson’s health will play a huge role in whether the Bengals can compete next season. He’s going to presumably step into an even bigger role under a new coaching staff and with veterans such as Michael Johnson gone.
Of course, the Bengals have already suffered an injury setback with Jonah Williams going down for the season. As long as it isn’t a sign of things to come — including the injury trend spiraling out of control again — Lawson and Co. sit in a position to let play on the field decide outcomes instead of attendance doing so.
