Bengals Injury Report: Week 14 (Friday)
The Cincinnati Bengals finally head home following a very successful three game road trip which saw the team go 3-0. This week, the Bengals have an incredibly difficult and important matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After losing their latest divisional matchup to the Browns, the Bengals need the win in order to maintain the divisional record tiebreaker; obviously a win against a divisional rival will also pad their lead against the Steelers in the AFC North race. With the division so tight, the Bengals need every able body they can find. With that in mind, here’s the Bengals injury report heading into Week 14.
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Practice Status
DNP = Did not participate in practice
LP = Limited Participation in Practice – Less than 100% of a player’s normal repetitions
FP = Full Participation – 100% of a player’s normal repetitions
Out = Player will not play
(-) = Not Listed = No practice status available
Game Status
Out = Player will not play
Doubtful = 25% chance a player will play
Questionable = 50% chance a player will play
Probable = 75% chance a player will play
(-) = Not Listed – No game status available
With his recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery going much slower than initially presumed, the Bengals will be without Vontaze Burfict yet again this week. It will make stopping Le’Veon Bell that much harder. Thankfully, Rey Maualuga has been playing well lately, so hopefully he can continue this trend Sunday.
With Domata Peko questionable for Sunday, it’s entirely reasonable to expect him to play, but not necessarily his typical snap count. This could mean extra work for Brandon Thompson who’s established himself as a quality run-stopping player in the middle.
The good news comes in the form of A.J. Green, Ryan Hewitt, and Adam Jones, all of whom were labeled as “probable” for Sunday. Jones will continue to help the Bengals’ secondary deal with quality receivers as this week the Bengals look to limit Antonio Brown‘s impact.
A.J. Green will likely do his usual as he’ll provide a big target for Andy Dalton while he tries to take advantage of the Steelers, at times, vulnerable secondary.
Ryan Hewitt’s presence will likely be overlooked by many, but shouldn’t be. Hewitt has established himself as a quality blocker out of the backfield, and especially in the last few weeks. The Bengals would do well to try and run the ball effectively on Sunday in an effort to win the time of possession battle which would help keep Ben Roethlisberger off the field. Hewitt’s presence will be a big help towards that effort on Sunday.