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          Bengals put WR John Ross on IR with shoulder injury

          • Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterOct 2, 2019, 05:37 PM
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              Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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          CINCINNATI -- The Bengals placed wide receiver John Ross on injured reserve, the team announced Wednesday.

          Ross injured his sternoclavicular joint in Monday's loss to Pittsburgh. Ross will be out for a minimum of eight weeks while he recovers from the injury.

          During his weekly news conference, Bengals coach Zac Taylor said since Ross was likely going to miss six to eight weeks, the best option was to put Ross on the injured reserve with hopes of a potential return in December.

          Ross dealt with a nagging hamstring injury during the preseason and recovered in time to open the season at Seattle.

          Through the first four games of 2019, Ross had already tallied a career-high 328 yards.

          "He was playing well," Taylor said. "So it's tough to see a guy through that when he's fought through this before."

          The third-year receiver was knocked out of Cincinnati's 27-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Monday night after he was slammed to the turf in the fourth quarter, with his right shoulder suffering most of the impact. He had three catches for 36 yards on six targets on a night when the offense managed only 175 total yards.

          The Bengals' first-round pick in 2017, Ross is having his most productive season. In four games, he has 16 catches for the 328 yards and three of the team's five receiving touchdowns.

          Ross opened 2019 with two 100-yard receiving performances. However, in the past two games, he and the Bengals' offense have been limited. Cincinnati (0-4) is 30th in offensive points per game and 29th in yards per play.

          This will be the third straight year Ross will miss multiple games because of injury.

          Ross had a shoulder injury in college that required surgery and forced him to miss the offseason training program before his rookie year. The issue was cited as he was put on injured reserve for the final four games of the season. In 2018, the former Washington standout missed three games with a groin injury.

          With Ross out, the Bengals will be down two starting wide receivers. A.J. Green has not played this season as he recovers from ankle surgery. Green's timetable to return is still unknown.

          The Bengals signed wide receiver Stanley Morgan from their practice squad Wednesday to fill Ross' roster spot.