Report: Cincinnati Bengals place TE Tyler Eifert on IR with return designation

The Cincinnati Bengals will be without Tyler Eifert for at least the next seven weeks after placing the tight end on injured reserve designated to return.

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Eifert dislocated his elbow in Sunday’s game against the Ravens and was forced to exit, even though according to Jay Glazer the elbow popped right back in.

The concern with Eifert was that the elbow popping out and back in might lead to ligament damage. The best case scenario placed his recovery time at 4-6 weeks. By using the to return designation, the Bengals can have Eifert back after week 8.

A first round pick out of Notre Dame in 2013, Eifert caught 39 balls for 445 yards and 2 TDs in his rookie season with Cincinnati and is seen by some as a rising offensive star in the NFL.

If he can’t keep his elbow from popping out and popping back in, that star is going to have a hard time continuing to track upward. Don’t look at the pictures unless you want to be grossed out.

Yeah, that’s disturbing. You definitely want to avoid having your elbow pop out of joint, if at all possible.

With Eifert out, the Bengals will lean more heavily on Jermaine Gresham and possibly rookie Ryan Hewitt. Cincinnati has now used up its one league-allowed IR-to-return exemption.

So they really hope no one else important gets hurt in the next week or two.