06-13-2018, 03:41 PM
(06-13-2018, 03:27 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Bryant had surgery before the 2009 season, not after. He did have some injury issues but he played in the final 7 games of the season catching 23 passes for 371 yds (16.1 avg). He had 91 yds against the Falcons in week 12 and 116 against the Panthers in week 13. He was having some problems with the knee but he was healthy enough to play and produce. Then by training camp he claimed he could not even practice. Clearly there was another injury sometime between the end of the '09 season and training camp in '10.
Bryant only had a total of 124 yards over his last 4 games and other than a couple of instances, hadn't really looked very good the entire year. It seemed pretty obvious that he had not progressed very far by seasons end, and in fact, seemed to have regressed.
It was a huge gamble by the Bengals to sign him to a 4 yr- 28m deal coming off that disappointing season, and for that they deserved fair criticism, but failing to catch the chronic issue with his knee may not have been their fault:
'It's a complicated cartilage injury that won't show up on tests unless you're looking for it. This would explain how Bryant passed a physical despite being unable to play. It's a long-term knee problem that won't go away.' - per NFL medical source via Peter King
