Bengals tight end C.J. Uzomah suffers injury in AFC championship game

The Cincinnati Bengals could be without star tight end C.J. Uzomah for the rest of the AFC Championship game. Uzomah suffered an injury to his left knee, according to ESPN’s Ian Rapoport, and may not return.

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 has 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 14-3 versus the Kansas City Chiefs early. They will rely on Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Joe Mixon with Uzomah questionable to return.

C. J. Uzomah was shaken up on that last play causing him to hobble off the field.#CINvsKC #NFL #NFLPlayoffs #RuleTheJungle #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/TtTDbfmNRG

— Football Outsiders (@fboutsiders) January 30, 2022

Bengals release AFC Championship Game hype video

The Cincinnati Bengals have made an impressive run to the AFC Championship Game, but they aren’t done yet. 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.”

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.

Now, the Bengals are looking to continue this season’s success with a win over the Chiefs again in the AFC Championship. If they can, Cincinnati will return to the Super Bowl after a long drought.

On3’s Jonathan Wagner contributed to this report.