Dre Kirkpatrick Suffered Hand Injury in 'Freak Accident,' No Timetable to Return

Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick suffered a fracture in his right hand during a "freak accident" that required a cast, which forced him to miss the start of organized team activities.

On Tuesday, Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Kirkpatrick expects himself back to full strength in a few weeks. Head coach Marvin Lewis said there's no official timetable, though.

Mark Inabinett of AL.com noted the 27-year-old Alabama product told ESPN Radio Cincinnati the injury was "nothing too serious." In the meantime, he enjoyed the opportunity to work with some of the secondary's younger pieces in more of a coaching role.

"I'd definitely love to be out there, especially when those guys are out there giving it their all and I'm standing on the sidelines," Kirkpatrick said. "But I'm contributing. I'm helping the young guys. I have my script. I'm following the young guys around, just trying to make sure they're up to speed on a lot of things where coach ain't got to worry too much about it. At the end of the day, I'd rather be out there with my brothers."

No further information about exactly how the injury occurred was immediately released.

The 2012 first-round pick has made 29 starts for the Bengals over the past two seasons after beginning his career mostly in a reserve role.

He tallied 46 combined tackles, 10 passes defended and three interceptions across 15 appearances during the 2016 campaign.

Darqueze Dennard, Adam "Pacman" Jones, William Jackson III and Josh Shaw would all battle for additional playing time at cornerback if Kirkpatrick remained sidelined. It doesn't appear his availability for the start of training camp is in serious danger, though.