Fantasy Football: Bengals' Joe Mixon expected to miss 2 weeks

Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Running back Joe Mixon is expected to miss time after injuring his knee during the Cincinnati Bengals' win against the Baltimore Ravens.

Sources told NFL Network and ESPN that Mixon will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery to remove a small particle in his knee that became dislodged. He will have the surgery on Saturday, according to NFL Network. ESPN reported that he will miss two weeks due to the injury.

The second-year star went to the locker room in the first quarter on Thursday but returned to the game. He ran for 84 yards on 21 carries and also had a three yard reception. Mixon had 95 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries in the Bengals' Week 1 win against the Indianapolis Colts. He also had five catches for 54 yards in Week 1.

"He could've been a lot better this week," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis told reporters Friday. "He had a better game in Indianapolis, as far as doing exactly what he needed to do in the run game. He was a little bit off, we are leaving some yards out there in the run game. We could ramp up a little bit."

Mixon said the knee still hurt after Thursday's win, but he wasn't worried about it.

"It felt weird," Mixon said. "My knee was hurting. Other than that, it's just the mental side of it. You always want to play at 100 percent [health], but when something is bothering you it's hard mentally. I just had to check back in mentally and physically tough it out. And that's pretty much what I did."

Fantasy Football Outlook

Mixon had the looks of an RB1 early on in the season, but he should be headed to your bench for the foreseeable future. Bengals backup Giovani Bernard is slated for an increased role. The pass-catching dynamo is an excellent PPR play going forward and could move onto the RB2 radar, depending on the matchup.

Running backs Tra Carson and Mark Walton are also on the Bengals' 53-man roster.