CINCINNATI -- Bengals wide receiver Cody Core should be fine after leaving Wednesday’s practice on a cart with a leg injury, a source said.
Although the team declined to specify the nature of the injury, the source said Core was in good spirits after he was taken in for X-rays on his left leg.
According to the source, Core will have one more test on Wednesday, but everything looked OK after the initial X-ray.
Core was in obvious pain after the injury, which occurred toward the end of practice in Paul Brown Stadium. Teammates came over to give him high-fives and words of encouragement as he was put on the cart, and practice ended immediately after it happened.
It’s a crowded receivers room in Cincinnati this year due to two new draft picks, but the Bengals have remained high on Core after he filled in for an injured A.J. Green last season. Core also plays a big role on special teams.
Core, a 2016 sixth-round draft pick out of Ole Miss, began last season as an inactive receiver on game days but gained more playing time after Green’s injury. He finished with 17 catches for 200 yards, including an 82-yard receiving game in the season finale against the Ravens.
“The playing experience Cody got last year has been very beneficial to him and everyone on the football team, to be able to see his abilities,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said on Wednesday. “It gives him the confidence to come out and work in the offseason and know that he can achieve higher goals. He’s got higher level of plays out there for him. …
“He’s got the physical tools, and I’m sure in his own mind he always believes that, but until you get your opportunity on an NFL field that you can go out there and play winning football in a game, it probably stays in the back of your mind. So, it was good for him. And it’s good for [quarterback] Andy [Dalton] to get a trust level with him. Everybody benefited from it.”
