CINCINNATI — Bengals running back Joe Mixon, who had a procedure Saturday to remove loose particles in his knee, said he will return from a knee injury when he feels comfortable.
Mixon said he had a “slight tear” in his meniscus, but he feels great and has been walking around. The procedure to repair the knee took about an hour, he said.
He joked that he’d like to run already, but said the trainers have held him back.
“Just however comfortable I feel,” he said. “As soon as I feel any type of comfortability, in terms of me going out there and able to run full speed and cut a dime, that’s definitely when I’ll be out there. And even if I did have a little pain, I’ll definitely still be out there at that point when I’m comfortable.”
Mixon injured his knee during last Thursday’s game against the Ravens and was in and out the whole game. He said he started to feel something was off with the knee on a goal line play.
He said he tried to send a message to everyone by playing through pain last week.
“It doesn’t matter how hurt you are. Physical pain, you know, Marvin [Lewis] talks about grinding everything out. I knew I was in pain,” Mixon said. “They knew I was in pain. But like I said, when I knew I was able to go, I just said, ‘It’s going to be really bad, or it can’t get much worse than this.'”
Bengals center Billy Price was in a walking boot on Wednesday with an ultrasound device attached to it. He said he was diagnosed with a foot injury Wednesday after he was initially believed to have an ankle injury.
Price said he’s not out for the year, but he declined to give a timetable. He said he can walk without the boot but he has been advised to keep it on at all times. He said they’ll reevaluate in two weeks.
“It’s not an ankle and it’s not a Lisfranc,” Price said, adding that the diagnosis was great for him because he doesn’t want surgery. “I’m not a fan of surgery. To not be on the table is the best option for me.”
Bengals running back Tra Carson would’ve been a candidate to replace Mixon, but he was injured in practice this week and waived/injured on Wednesday.