Bengals 1st-Round Pick Billy Price Cleared for Football After Pectoral Injury

Billy Price, who was drafted 21st overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in April, has been cleared to return to the football field. 

The 22-year-old announced that doctors cleared him after he had surgery in March to repair a partially torn pectoral muscle:

Price was injured during the NFL Scouting Combine in March while doing the bench press. The former Ohio State star told reporters it was only a minor setback. 

"I'm not worried about this at all. This is something where I'm gonna come back stronger," he said. "You're gonna really have to put a bullet between us Ohio State guys' eyes to put us down. So I'm looking to get back out there and whatever team ends up selecting me, we're going to be 100 percent going into it."

Dr. David Altchek, who performed Price's surgery, said in a letter to NFL teams he anticipated the offensive lineman would "be able to participate in the NFL training camp at the end of July without restriction."

The Bengals made Price their top pick in the 2018 NFL draft. He was named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year and won the Rimington Trophy as the nation's best center at Ohio State in 2017. 

Cincinnati will open training camp July 26.