Monday, September 27, 1999Cramp sidelines Dillon
RB returns, gets 100 yards
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati EnquirerCHARLOTTE — For the second time in three weeks this season, running back Corey Dillon on Sunday missed a significant portion of the game with a calf cramp.
He left with about five minutes left in the third quarter of the Bengals' 27-3 loss to Carolina, just after the Bengals stalled on the Carolina 22-yard line and had to settle for a field goal, and returned with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
When he left, he had 18 carries for 100 yards and returned to get 13 more yards on two carries for his first 100-yard day of the season and first in six games.
“Maybe my body isn't responding to being as light as I am,” said Dillon, who is about 220 pounds, 10-to-12 pounds lighter than last season. “It could be a dietary thing. It's a problem we'll check into. It's nothing we can't fix.”
Trainer Paul Sparling said Dillon will meet with a nutritionist “to see if his diet is exposing himself to cramps. He's been pushing fluids the last several days.”
Dillon is not sure how much his absence affected the game since the Panthers went up 20-3 the series after he left. He just wants to finish games. Last year he had trouble finishing because of taking so many hits. Now he needs shots of fluids to finish.
“I drink plenty of water. I hydrate myself well,' Dillon said. “Maybe it's because I get real sweaty. I get in the heat working hard like I do. During the week, I'm fine.
“I also have to protect my well being,” Dillon said. “I don't like coming out, but I'm not going to go in there and tear it, then there'd be a real problem.”
Dillon and the Bengals did what they wanted to do with him, running him early and often as he racked up 5.7 yards per carry. But it got tougher closer to the goal line. On five carries from the Carolina 33 on in, he had nine yards.
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