Andy Dalton Injury: Bengals' QB Will Be Ready to Roll in Week 2

Take a sigh of relief Cincinnati Bengals fans.

Rookie QB Andy Dalton play surprisingly well in the first half of the Bengals 27-17 win over the Cleveland Browns.

He didn’t let the pressure get the best of him and the “Red Rifle” showed enough promise to get fans really excited. Going 10-of-15 for 91 yards and a TD is all you can ask for in the first two quarters of his career.

Then the second half began without Dalton on the field. He had been drilled by the enormous nose tackle Phil Taylor just before the half and was forced to leave the game with what was later called a forearm contusion.

The extent of the injury doesn’t sound serious. Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer  says Dalton is day-to-day and will likely be questionable for Cincinnati’s Week 2 tilt against the Denver Broncos.

Judging by the comments made by head coach Marvin Lewis, Dalton will be ready to go:

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"We should be OK. No worse than yesterday but a lot better than yesterday, actually."

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Dalton couldn’t go back into the game on Sunday because the team trainers weren’t sure exactly what was wrong with him. Dalton said he was unable to get a great grip on the ball and numbness was an issue.

After a week’s worth of treatment and lots of ice bags, you can bet Dalton will be back in action.

If Dalton can’t go, Bruce Gradkowski will make his first career start as a Bengal. While he did lead the offense to a come-from-behind win by catching the Browns asleep at the wheel, he looked awful for the majority of the game. The offense punted the ball seven straight times at one point.

That means the Bengals will really push Dalton back into action. The Broncos are very beatable and getting off to a 2-0 start would do wonders to the young squad that has adopted the “me against the world” mentality.

Expect Dalton to be back in action on Sunday and will be playing at 90-95 percent…which is much better than a 100 percent Gradkowski.