Kenny Irons Lost For The Season

By Jay Coulter

Kenny Irons’ run of bad luck and tough injuries got worse Thursday night.  Irons, the Cincinnati Bengal’s second round draft choice tore his ACL during a preseason game in Detroit. Bengals.com posted this on their web site this afternoon...

The Bengals' worst fears were realized Friday when an MRI revealed that rookie running back Kenny Irons is lost for the season with a tear of his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, extending a horrifying streak of bad luck when it comes to their running backs that began with a similar injury to Ickey Woods in 1989.

The club said in a news release that a full recovery is expected and that Irons should be ready to participate in next spring's workouts.

Irons, a second-rounder out of Auburn, had been one of the stars of the preseason in jetting to 65 yards on 10 carries in last week's intrasquad scrimmage. And flashing perimeter speed the club thought would be just the right complement to Rudi Johnson's inside game, Irons had just ripped off an 11-yard gain in Thursday's preseason opener in Detroit before getting hurt on his fourth carry of the game.

At the end of that seven-yard run, Irons limped off the field after planting his foot went awry. It didn't appear to be a contact injury.

That’s a terrible break for Kenny. Imagine what he would have been like last year without the hamstring injuries. Now he’s dealing with this injury.

Cincinnati has been snake bit when it comes to running backs. Back in 1995, first overall pick Jana Carter out of Penn State, tore his ACL on the third carry of his career. Irons was expected to back-up fellow Auburn alumnus Rudi Johnson this season. There’s still hope. With medicine the way it is these days, Iron’s should make a full recovery and be ready next fall.