Injuries Impact Numbers Game As Final Cut Looms

T Sheldon Rankins (9), E Trey Hendrickson (8), T B.J. Hill (7), E Sam Hubbard (7), E Joseph Ossai (4), T Jay Tufele (4), T Zach Carter (3), T Carlos Davis (3), T Travis Bell (2), E Myles Murphy (2), T Domenique Davis (1), E Justin Blazek (R), T McKinnley Jackson (R), T Kris Jenkins Jr. (R), E Cedric Johnson (R).

The injuries have really crunched the Bengals here. First things first. They have to decide if Jackson (knee) and Murphy (knee) can be back before four weeks. If they can, then they can carry them on the roster for the first couple of games and make them inactive on Game Day.

Or, they may have to use two of their eight IR-Returns right away to put them on injured reserve for four weeks. The ideal number here is 10 — five tackles and five edge rushers — and they would have to decide how to fill the spots.

The injuries to Sample and Murphy and the retirement of Jeff Gunter leave them with four edge rushers. Blazek could be a fifth after he had a big night Thursday with a sack-strip and a total of five pressures. If not, they could go to the wire.

It certainly means that Johnson makes it. A sixth-rounder from Ole Miss, Johnson finished off a terrific camp with another active night Thursday of three pressures on 20 rushes and a sack that was negated by the Bengals’ only penalty.

Jenkins has asserted himself behind Hill and Rankins at tackle. Carter clearly has a spot after not playing Thursday. With Jackson out, you wonder if Tufele has played his way back into a spot after being hurt early in camp. He did have a tackle for a loss Thursday and has a history of some good ball during his 17 games in the past two years with the Bengals.

Germaine Pratt (6), Joe Bachie (5), Akeem Davis-Gaither (5), Logan Wilson (5), Devin Harper (3), Shaka Heyward (1), Maema Njongmeta (R).

The Bengals cut Indiana undrafted rookie Aaron Casey, apparently leaving the undrafted Njongmeta and practice squadders Heyward and Harper for the fifth and final spot.

PFF gave Heyward and Harper much better grades than Njongmeta for Thursday night, but it’s the coaches’ grades that count, and Njongmeta has built up a lot of capital with them. PFF got him for two missed tackles, not four or five like Maema said, but he was there for nine more tackles. He looked to be the leader in the clubhouse. Did he do enough? And, will injuries have them think about keeping six?

S Vonn Bell (9), CB Mike Hilton (8), CB Jalen Davis (5), S Geno Stone (5), S Tycen Anderson (3), CB Dax Hill (3), CB Cam Taylor-Britt (3), S Jordan Battle (2), CB Nate Brooks (2), CB DJ Ivey (2), CB DJ Turner II (2), S Daijahn Anthony (R), S PJ Jules (R), CB Josh Newton (R), CB Lance Robinson (R).

They’re definitely thinking about keeping 11 here even though they’re dealing here with another injury in Robinson.

They’re grooming young guns like Anderson and Anthony as gunners and Battle as a special teams captain as they covet five safeties and six cornerbacks. Five of the cornerbacks can play the slot in Hilton, Davis, Hill, Newton and Turner. Theoretically, 10 go active on Game Day, including all the safeties.

Battle, he of the pick-six, was graded the Bengals’ best PFF defensive player Thursday night. Newton was the second overall and second in coverage, allowing just four catches for 22 yards working against Indy’s starters much of the night as part of his 33 coverage snaps. After an up-and-down day in Chicago five days before, he displayed a vet cornerback’s short memory.

As the Bengals sort through the bountiful new depth at cornerback, they released the highly-respected Allan George Friday. George, signed in 2022 as an undrafted free agent from Vanderbilt, has been on the practice squad the last two years and didn’t play in a game last season. But he played in seven as a rookie, including three in the playoffs.