At this point in the season, every team is struggling with injuries; it is just a matter of how much rather than if. A few teams were forced to place players on injured reserve after week 11, meaning that backups are becoming increasingly more important. In a rare 13-13 tie with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Cincinnati Bengals lost wide receiver Antonio Chatman to a neck injury. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took an even bigger hit as their leading running back Earnest Graham was placed on injured reserve because of an injured right ankle. The Saints also lost a running back as tailback Aaron Stecker was put on the injured reserve list because of a hamstring injury. The Saints now have 13 different players on their IR, three of which are defensive tackles.

Although Chatman wasn’t a regular starter for the Bengals, he will surely hurt their depth at wide receiver. He has played in 10 games so far this season and had 21 receptions for 194 yards. Last season, he played in 13 games for the Bengals with 19 catches and one touchdown. 2006 was his first year with the Bengals, and he only played in three games. Prior to being with the Bengals, Chatman played three seasons with the Green Bay Packers. He had a career-high 49 receptions, 549 yards and four touchdowns in 2005. He played college at the University of Cincinnati. He entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2001, but was waived in August. He played for the Arena Football Team the Chicago Rush before coming to Green Bay.

Graham is a five-year pro who has been with the Bucs since they picked him up as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He didn’t see any playing time his first year, but saw action in nine games the next year. He made it into all 16 games in 2005 although he didn’t start any. The next year was very similar. He became more of a force last year as he started 10 out of the 15 games he played in. He had 898 yards on 222 carries and ten touchdowns. Before his injury this season, Graham had started in every game. He had 563 yards and four touchdowns on 132 attempts. The Bucs signed Noah Herron to make up for losing Graham.

Stecker’s injury was hurting him since the first week of the season before the Saints finally put him on IR after week 11. The Saints signed fullback Darian Barnes to help regroup from the loss. It is unclear what this means for the nine-year veteran’s career as he will be a free agent at the end of the season. He has been with the Saints since 2004. Last season, he started in six of the 16 games he played in with 448 yards on 115 carries along with five touchdowns. He spent a year on the Tampa Bay Bucs practice squad before spending 2000-2003 on the Bucs’ active roster.

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