Report: Additional details on C.J. Uzomah's gruesome injury revealed

The Cincinnati Bengals will have to attempt their AFC Championship game comeback without star tight end C.J. Uzomah.

Uzomah suffered an injury to his left knee, which a source revealed as an MCL sprain, according to ESPN’s Ian Rapoport. He will not return to the game and will get an MRI after to determine the extent of his injury.

The initial belief is Bengals TE C.J. Uzomah has an MCL sprain, source said. Obviously out today and he’ll have an MRI after the game to see if there is additional or more extensive damage.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 30, 2022

The 29-year-old Uzomah hopped off the field under his own power and was in tears as a cart took him to the locker room.

The former fifth-round draft pick out of Auburn had two targets and no catches on the day. This season, he has a career-high 493 receiving yards on 49 receptions with five touchdowns.

Joe Burrow and the Bengals went down 21-3 versus the Kansas City Chiefs early. They will rely on Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine with Uzomah sidelined indefinitely.

Perine already came up big with a 41-yard catch and run for a touchdown to make it 21-10 at halftime.

Bengals battling the odds

Not many people expected the Bengals to be where they are this season. After losing back-to-back games to the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns in Weeks 8 and 9, most people counted Cincinnati out. After splitting their next four games to hit 7-6 through Week 14, the Bengals won three games in a row, including one against the Chiefs to reach 10-6.

At the end of the regular season, the Bengals sat at 10-7 and AFC North champions. Cincinnati beat the Las Vegas Raiders in the Wild Card round and the top-seeded Tennessee Titans in the Divisional round.

The Bengals released a hype video for Sunday’s AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs, and an iconic quote from quarterback Joe Burrow is near the beginning.

“I’m tired of the underdog narrative,” Burrow said. “We’re a really, really good team. We’re here to make noise.”

Throughout the season, the Bengals have lived by the “Why not us” motto. Cincinnati captioned their tweet of the hype video by saying, “IT IS US.”