CINCINNATI -- Yes, the Cincinnati Bengals have a diverse array of offensive playmakers, but tight end Tyler Eifert certainly would be among those they could least afford to lose for any considerable amount of time this season.
The Bengals got a brief scare Thursday afternoon when the third-year pass-catcher went down with a hard thud late in practice. It was during a drill in which he ended up one-on-one with rookie safety Erick Dargan that Eifert was shaken up.
There was no official word what happened to him, but it appeared he may have simply had the wind knocked out of him after a fall that came after he and Dargan got tangled up while jumping high for a pass.
"He'll be fine," offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said.
Asked if seeing the prized playmaker on the ground frightened him, Jackson added that it did whenever players end up on the ground the way Eifert did.
"You want to make sure he's OK," Jackson said. "Once I walked over there and looked at him in the eye, I knew he's fine. He just jumped up too high. They got the saying, 'Men can't jump' -- I'm not going to say the other part of that -- but he can. He can jump. Boy, he got up."
After landing on the ground, Eifert rolled around for a few seconds before coaches and trainers stood over him to ensure he was all right. Once he got up, he continued to speak with them. He was never sidelined, but he didn't participate in any other drills.
Eifert has had a strong preseason and could be key to the Bengals' hopes this year. He missed nearly all of the 2014 season after dealing with elbow and shoulder injuries. He dislocated his right elbow trying to stretch for more yards following a first-down catch in the season opener. On just eight snaps, he caught three passes for 37 yards.
