Bob Costas Explains His Red Eye, Takes a Swig of Jack on 'The Tonight Show'

UPDATE: Monday, Feb. 10, at 11:07 p.m. ET by Ken Dorset

Bob Costas' case of pink eye is getting worse as the week goes on. It seems to have spread to his other eye:

--End of Update --

While Costas’ decision to don glasses for the broadcast was puzzling, concern skyrocketed when viewers noticed his left eye was nearly swollen shut.

According to Chris Chase of For The Win, Costas took a brief moment near the beginning of the Olympic broadcast to explain his Terminator eye to the viewing public and confirm he was soldiering through an eye infection:

"

Bear with me for a moment as I spare my friends in the press office countless inquiries. I have no choice [but] to go all Peabody and Sherman on you for the next couple of nights since I woke up this morning with my left eye swollen shut and just about as red as the old Soviet flag. According to the NBC doctors here, it’s some kind of minor infection which should resolve itself by the weekend. If only all my issues would resolve themselves that quickly.

"

Costas didn't explain how the infection came about, but we can only pray he didn’t drink or wash his face with Sochi water.

That’s not green tea, guys. It’s jaundiced regret.

According to Ty Duffy of The Big Lead, Costas also made everyone’s inner freshman giggle by uttering the name of Russian feminist punk rock group “Pussy Riot” later in the broadcast.

The good news is Costas wasn’t done for the night. Later in the evening, the anchor made a brief (and likely pre-taped) appearance during Jay Leno’s last hurrah as host of The Tonight Show.

According to Stephen Douglas of The Big Lead, Costas went on air (with a less gunky but still leaky eye) and woofed back a swig of “Jack Daniel’s."

To head off the Bob Costas/whiskey truthers, it did appear that the contents of the bottle fizzed up after Costas’ chug, meaning it was probably Coca-Cola.

Either way, it was an unforgettable night for NBC viewers, who were privy to not just one strange, Costas-y instance, but three. 

Be on the lookout for more golden Costas moments this weekend. Red-Eye Costas might look like a terminator, but he’s far from the boring, preachy Bob Costas to which we’re accustomed.

On the other hand, he may not be healed "by the weekend." We could potentially be looking at an entire Winter Olympics of Costas' cyborg vision, because as we all know, time heals everything but crazy eyes.

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