Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert missed a good portion of the 2016 season after injuring his ankle in the Pro Bowl last winter. So it’s not surprising he’s been down on the idea of playing in the meaningless exhibition game again.
Now that the 2016 Pro Bowl team is set to be announced, Eifert reiterated a previous stance that he took about the Pro Bowl.
“I’d like to make it, but I’m not going to go if I got asked,” Eifert said, per Katherine Terrell of ESPN. “It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. But it’s just not worth it.”
Eifert ended up needing surgery to repair the damage to his ankle stemming from his play in last year’s Pro Bowl. The recovery time to get back onto the field was longer than anticipated, and his absence had a lot to do with Cincinnati’s failure to produce a winning record this year.
One of the best tight ends in football, Eifert wasn’t able to get back onto the field this year until Week 7. And it wasn’t until the next game that he really started to make an impact for his team.
With that in mind it’s understandable that the playmaking tight end isn’t interested in tempting fate again to play in a game that could result in another injury, not to mention the fact that it doesn’t mean a darn thing.
Even if there is going to be dodgeball this year.