The worst fears regarding wide receiver Mohamed Sanu’s left foot were confirmed Friday as head coach Marvin Lewis announced the rookie suffered what could be a season-ending injury Thursday in practice.

“He’s got a stress fracture of his fifth metatarsal, and he’ll likely have surgery on Monday,” Lewis said. “It’s unfortunate for Mo and for us because of what he was doing, but we’ll pick it up and move forward.”

When asked if Sanu will be placed on season-ending Injured Reserve, Lewis said “we’ll see.”

With four touchdown receptions in the last three games, Sanu was beginning to emerge as the primary threat opposite Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green.

Sanu started the last two games against Kansas City and Oakland, and Sunday against the Raiders he had two touchdown catches among his career-high five receptions.

Sanu’s emergence coincided with knee injuries to rookie Marvin Jones and Andrew Hawkins. Jones got hurt in the first quarter of the Pittsburgh game Oct. 21 and missed three games before returning last week.

“He’s done a good job,” Lewis said of Jones. “He was much better this week than he was last week. He looks like himself.”

Hawkins injured his knee the Friday before the Kansas City game and was inactive against the Chiefs and Raiders. But he returned to practice Wednesday and is listed as probable for Sunday’s game in San Diego.

“It was the first time we had all three – (Sanu), Marvin and Andrew – up running and playing with confidence,” Lewis said. “For about an hour.

“It’s just another weird thing that we’ve had this year unfortunately.”

Hawkins has 34 catches for 394 yards and three touchdowns this season, while Jones has just three receptions for 26 yards.

“They’re both back, so we’ll just keep plugging forward,” Lewis said.

Armon Binns could see some action as well. A starter in five of the first six games, Binns has 18 catches for 210 yards and one touchdown. But he’s been in active in two of the past three games, and three of the last five.

“Armon did a lot of good things in the first three games of the year,” Lewis said. “He’s just got to keep working, and when he gets a shot to suit up and do it, you’ve got to be ready.”