Report: Former Michigan RB suffers season-ending injury during Bengals training camp

Another former Michigan player reportedly suffered a season-ending injury during training camp.

Cincinnati Bengals running back Chris Evans was carried off the field during a joint practice with the Chicago Bears on Thursday. According to ESPN, trainers immobilized Evans' right leg with an air cast after he suffered a torn patellar tendon. The team has not yet confirmed the 2021 sixth-round pick's injury status, but multiple media outlets have reported that he will miss the 2024 season.

Evans' injury came a day after former Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy, the Minnesota Vikings' No. 10 pick for 2024, underwent surgery on a torn right meniscus that sidelined him for his rookie year.

Evans, who rushed for 1,795 yards (5.6 per carry) and 15 touchdowns in four seasons at Michigan – he was suspended for the entire 2019 season before returning to the team in 2020 – has been a reserve running back for Cincinnati since entering the league in 2021. In his rookie season, he caught 15 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns while running 17 times for 77 yards in 14 games.

But the 6-foot-3, 215-pound player has made just six offensive appearances in 20 games over the past two seasons, mostly on special teams and kick returns. After longtime starter Joe Mixon was traded to the Houston Texans in the offseason, Evans hoped to carve out a bigger role in a backfield that also includes free agency signing Zack Moss and promising second-year running back Chase Brown.

In the team's 17-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday in the season opener, Evans ran one pass for 1 yard and caught two passes for 8 yards.