Report: Bengals RB Rodney Anderson's Knee Injury Believed to Be Torn ACL

The Cincinnati Bengals believe rookie running back Rodney Anderson suffered a torn ACL during Thursday night's preseason finale against the Indianapolis Colts, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

This comes just more than three weeks after the sixth-round pick was activated from the non-football injury list, which stemmed from a torn ACL suffered during a Sept. 8, 2018 contest with the Oklahoma Sooners.

Thursday marked just Anderson's second appearance of the preseason. He impressed early on as his knee appeared to be fully recovered:

"At the end of the day, man, Rod, he a fighter, dog," Bengals running back Joe Mixon told The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr. of Anderson, who he also played with at Oklahoma, earlier this month. "At the end of the day, he definitely overcame some s--t. He going to keep on ballin’ trying to do his thing."

The rookie finished the preseason with 13 carries for nine yards and five catches for 58 yards.

Unfortunately for Anderson, injuries have plagued him since nearly the start of his college career. He broke his left leg just two games into his freshman season in 2015, he missed the entire 2016 campaign due to a fractured vertebra and his knee injury last year sidelined him for all but two contests.

Overall, he made just 17 appearances for the Sooners over the course of four years in Norman.

When he was healthy, though, Anderson showed no shortage of potential. He ran for 1,161 yards and 13 touchdowns in 13 games in 2017, picking up 6.2 yards per rush attempt. He added 17 receptions for 281 yards and five touchdowns.

He finished his Oklahoma career having run for 6.4 yards per carry.

Anderson's injury history likely caused him to slide late into Day 3 of the draft. Ultimately, though, the Bengals, who had 10 total draft picks, opted to use one of their three sixth-round picks to take a flier on the former Sooners star.

Anderson was not expected to have a major role in the Cincinnati offense this season, as Mixon and Giovani Bernard will receive the majority of the snaps in the backfield when healthy.