Gwinnett Daily Post

The severity of Kenny Irons' knee injury caused him to fail a physical this week, and it forced the Cincinnati Bengals to waive their 2007 second-round draft pick on Friday.

Cincinnati's decision likely means that the Dacula grad's surgically repaired knee isn't coming along as planned. The Bengals' release said the club needed Irons' roster spot to get to the 80-man limit for training camp. However, it noted that the team has re-signed injured players in the past and assigned them to the season-ending injured reserve list.

David Irons Sr., Kenny's father, said that is what he expects to happen.

"It's a business move," said David Irons Sr., whose other son David Jr. plays for the Atlanta Falcons. "They waive him, he clears waivers and they put him on injured reserve. It was just a business move. We were kind of expecting it, we just didn't know how they wanted to handle it."

Irons, a two-time All-SEC running back at Auburn, was expected to be a huge factor as a Bengals rookie in 2007. He rushed for 65 yards on 10 carries in an intrasquad scrimmage, but tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee on just his fourth career carry during the Aug. 9 preseason opener against Detroit.

Irons hasn't played or practiced with the team since the injury - his father said the rehabilitation was slowed while his meniscus healed. The setback is his first major injury, but his older brother overcame two major knee surgeries to be an All-SEC cornerback at Auburn and to make the Falcons roster as a rookie.

"Kenny's doing good," David Irons Sr. said. "He's a little bit behind schedule, but he'll be back. He's a running back. It just takes some time to get that back. David Jr. did it and he came back. Kenny will be back, too."

Irons' release is the second for a former Gwinnett star in the past week. Seven days earlier, Kansas City waived South Gwinnett grad David Greene.

The Georgia grad was one of four quarterbacks on the Chiefs' roster, but the team parted ways with him and kept Damon Huard, Brodie Croyle and Tyler Thigpen.