While the Bengals received good news that #1 cornerback Leon Hall would be fully cleared for Training Camp, just 8 months after tearing his Achilles, the Bengals also received bad news regarding their secondary. Rookie cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, the 17th pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, has injured his knee and will miss some time.
There are varying reports about how long Kirkpatrick will miss, ranging from “much of camp,” according to NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora, to “6 weeks,” according NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal. ESPN, meanwhile, is reporting 2-4 weeks. Either way, it doesn’t look too serious. Nothing is torn or broken, according to Kirkpatrick himself.
However, rookie cornerbacks tend to take a year to adjust to the speed of the NFL anyway (even Patrick Peterson struggled mightily in coverage last year) and missing a large chunk of Training Camp at least won’t help matters at all for Kirkpatrick. The Bengals might be better off using one of their veterans, either Nate Clements or Jason Allen, opposite Leon Hall and easing Kirkpatrick in with the intention of having him be a starter in 2013.
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