After missing Week 13 with a neck injury, Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert only had two catches in Week 14 before suffering a concussion, which forced him out of Cincinnati's 33-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Tyler Eifert leaves with a concussion; Bengals, fantasy owners wait and hope
The tight end caught only two passes in his return to action. We break down the fantasy implications.
David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Eifert, leading the NFL with 12 touchdowns this year, caught both of his targets Sunday, going for 42 yards. In his absence, Tyler Kroft had two catches for 31 yards, and Ryan Hewitt had a single catch for nine.
Fantasy impact: Eifert will have to go through the league's concussion protocol before he would be able to play in Week 15, when the Bengals travel to San Francisco to face the 49ers. Making matters worse for Eifert, the Bengals and fantasy owners, the team also lost quarterback Andy Dalton to a broken throwing thumb in Sunday's game, so even when Eifert is cleared for action, he'll have a worse quarterback working to get him the ball in AJ McCarron.
Once he’s healthy, Eifert still has enough upside that he’ll be a must-start in the majority of fantasy leagues even with McCarron at quarterback, but a concussion is enough of an uncertainty that fantasy owners should at least have a backup plan in place in case Eifert isn’t ready for Week 15.
