ANOTHER BAD BREAK FOR ANDERSON
Former Oklahoma running back Rodney Anderson of Cincinnati will miss another season of football after tearing his ACL again
Rodney Anderson will miss another season in what has become a football career defined by injuries.
The former Oklahoma running back tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Thursday night, Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor told reporters Friday. It's the same ACL Anderson tore last September against UCLA.
Anderson suffered three season-ending injuries at OU.
The Katy, Texas, native broke his left leg two games into his 2015 freshman season. Anderson missed the entire 2016 season after suffering a neck injury in fall camp. A torn ACL limited him to two games in 2018.
Anderson starred in his lone healthy season. He rushed for 1,161 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2017. He averaged more than six yards per carry and was named to the All-Big 12 second team. Anderson rushed for 201 yards and two touchdowns in Oklahoma's College Football Playoff loss to Georgia.
"You feel awful for him," Taylor said. "All sorts of guys in this league suffer injuries, season-ending injuries. That's part of the game. But for a guy who's done this now for the third or fourth time in his career, it has a little more significance to it. It's a guy who's continuously overcome that and come back. He's a guy who goes about it the right way. He's what we want this team to look like in terms of the approach."
The Ben gals banked on Anderson's potential despite the injury red flags. They drafted him in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
"This will test any man," Taylor said, "but I know he'll come back stronger."