Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict has finished exactly one game this year with a collection of head injuries.
Sunday, it was the thing that attaches his head to the rest of his body.
According to Coley Harvey of ESPN.com, Burfict was diagnosed with what coach Marvin Lewis called a “cervical strain.”
That’s a pretty ambiguous term, in the absence of any other information, and it could mean a case of whiplash, or something else.
Burfict was injured when he dropped his head into Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, putting the crown of his helmet into Luck’s chest.
Burfict suffered a concussion in the opener, played the next week and got another. Then he missed three weeks before returning for last week’s tie against the Panthers. He left that game with a “head injury” but returned.
“You always are worried when your teammate gets a couple of concussions and then a stinger [like Sunday],” cornerback Terence Newman said. “You don’t know if that’s related or whatnot, but he’s a great football player so anytime you lose him, it’s definitely heartbreaking. But he’s got a long career ahead of him and he has to just be smart.”
Of course, the media is making his problem worse, so we can only apologize in advance if he misses any more time.
