Undrafted Bengals rookie appears to be last man standing in unexpected battle of attrition

The Cincinnati Bengals were having three punters share reps just two weeks ago. They went down to two punters one week ago. Only one of them is now able to practice.

Punter Brad Robbins sustained the latest for the Bengals Tuesday afternoon in suffering a hip flexor injury.

The cruel twist is Robbins, last year's sixth-round pick, got hurt while practicing kickoffs. The reality is he'll miss valuable time fighting for a roster spot against the only other punter on the team: Ryan Rehkow .

Rehkow, an undrafted free agent who just joined the Bengals 19 days ago, went from sharing reps with Robbins and another UDFA in Austin McNamara to now being the only option for the Bengals with under than two weeks to go until cutdown day.

Robbins could only be out for a week, but any missed time at this juncture is huge in a win-or-get cut situation.

Ryan Rehkow can now run away with the punter job

Cincinnati was already making this a fair fight. Robbins and Rehkow each had three punts in last weekend's preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rehkow bested Robbins in average yards per punt, 56.0 to 50.0, but the second-year player's net average of 45.3 was higher than the rookie's 42.0 figure. Robbins was also responsible for the only punt to land inside the 20, while Rehkow was responsible for a touchback.

A one week sample size wasn't going to be enough to declare a winner. This battle was supposed to last three weeks, but if Robbins can't participate for the time being, Rehkow will simply have more chances to put good reps on display. The next few days will see it all be ramped up.

Thursday will be when the Bengals will have a joint practice against the Chicago Bears. The starters for Cincinnati will take their reps then as the reserves will see the field on Saturday for the actual game.

Rehkow won't get to rest as he's the lone punter remaining. All the punts, all the placekick holds, they belong to him.

Rehkow can't, and won't, win the job by the end of the weekend. There's no sense in cutting Robbins when he can potentially return to the battle next week.

But he can certainly start the conversation if all goes well in the Windy City.

The Bengals are banged up at numerous positions right now. Backup quarterback Jake Browning is out with a rib injury, Charlie Jones and McKinnley Jackson had scares with their respective knees, and Sam Hubbard's knee has kept him out for two weeks.

All of those names are expected to make the 53-man roster regardless. Robbins has no such luxury, which only bodes well for Rehkow as the last punter standing.

Related: Bengals Roster Breakdown: Ryan Rehkow is on track to being the surprise of Cincinnati's offseason