It has been nothing short of a difficult path to recovery for Cincinnati Bengals former Pro Bowl tight end Tyler Eifert in his rehab from a nagging back injury that has required a couple of rounds of surgery.

Those issues have flared up once again this NFL offseason as he was forced to take a step back in his activity in the team-related workouts due to concerns over his back. However, Eifert has voiced to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Cincinnati Enquirer that he didn't suffer a setback and expects to be ready “100 percent” ready for Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 9.

“There is no setback,” Eifert said to The Enquirer. “I’m feeling good. This is just the route we chose to take.”

More importantly, does he think he will play Week 1 against Indianapolis?

“Yeah,” Eifert said, “100 percent.”

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These comments from Eifert are encouraging, but he has yet to prove that he's past the injury bug as he has missed 22 games in the last two season due to various injuries. This includes 14 games in the 2017 campaign because of the second back surgery in as many years.

The 27-year-old has proven to be a huge factor in the passing game when healthy as a significant asset in the red zone and top receiving option on the team next to Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green. He is only two seasons removed from his breakout year in 2015 where he had 52 catches for 615 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns that were most by a tight end in a single season in franchise history.

Eifert is set to enter a highly critical 2018 season as the Bengals have taken one more shot on him with a one-year, $5.5 million deal that is essentially a “prove it” type contract. This all sets up what will be a huge campaign for him to showcase that he's not only past his injury woes but also deserves a long-term piece of the puzzle.