Tyler Eifert fights injury on busy day

Hearing the words "stinger" and "Tyler Eifert" in the same sentence leaves an uneasy feeling in the stomach of Bengals' coaches and fans. Yet, after watching Eifert collect his NFL-leading 12th receiving touchdown in Sunday's blowout of the Rams, the team did exactly that.

Eifert was injured in the third quarter after he fell on a fumble by Giovani Bernard. He trailed the play, fell on the ball but, in the process, sustained the neck injury. Originally, he was announced as probable to return, but once the Bengals notched a pick-6 from Leon Hall to take all the drama out of the game, he was downgraded and didn't return – along with two other banged-up Bengals.

Following the game, he sounded optimistic about the injury status.

"I'm OK," he said. "There's protocol with the stinger. I've had it before, I've dealt with it before. Just want to make sure you get your strength back and feeling back in your arm. Whether I would have come back or not, they just kind of said, 'All right you're done, we are not even going to worry about it.' If I had to come in, probably, but I'll be fine."

The Bengals hope so because, remember, Eifert struggled with a stinger his rookie season – playing through it the final few games of that season, missing the finale and only being able to withstand three plays in the playoff loss to the Chargers.

Again Sunday, he proved why he's the most valuable player not named Andy Dalton on this offense. In the second quarter, he hauled in his sixth touchdown pass in the last four games.

This time, Dalton used a long look to the sideline for A.J. Green, which included a pump fake – then whipped around to find Eifert up the seam for a 22-yard score.

"He looked the safety off and put it in a spot where only I could get it," said Eifert of the TD which was his first not in the red zone this year. "It was a good play all around."

Eifert's now the second-fastest to 12 touchdowns in Bengals history. Only Carl Pickens with 14 through the first 11 games in 1995 scored more. T.J. Houshmandzadeh in 2007 and running back Pete Johnson in 1981 scored 11 touchdowns through the first 11 games.

He continues on pace to break the NFL record for receiving touchdowns by a tight end. New England's Rob Gronkowski owns the record with 17.

Impact for the tight end didn't stop in the end zone. On a 45-yard screen pass to Bernard, Eifert hustled behind as the running back sprinted into open field. Rams cornerback Rodney McLeon stripped the ball, but Eifert ran right behind and was able to recover the fumble and avoid the turnover. It ended up being a key play, as A.J. Green scored his second touchdown two plays later.

"The coaches are always harping on that even in practice, finish the play because you never know if you can get a block or if there is a fumble you are going to jump on it," Eifert said. "You almost do it so you don't get yelled at in the film room."