How a pair of under-the-radar preseason injuries could impact Bengals' roster

Cincinnati has had its fair share of injury issues to deal with before the regular season.
Cincinnati Bengals v Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals v Baltimore Ravens / Cooper Neill/GettyImages
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The Cincinnati Bengals have had to deal with several injury issues during training camp and preseason play so far. Defensive end Cameron Sample was already lost for the entire 2024 season due to a torn Achilles tendon, wide receiver Charlie Jones was carted off the field, and rookie offensive tackle Amarius Mims will be sidelined for a few weeks with a pectoral injury.

Keep an eye on injuries to Jake Browning and Brad Robbins

In addition to those injuries, there are a couple slightly more under-the-radar injuries that the Bengals are dealing with that could have a big impact on the team's depth chart and regular season roster.

During a recent practice, Bengals coach Zac Taylor revealed that backup quarterback Jake Browning (rib) and punter Brad Robbins (hip) were both dealing with injuries that could keep them off of the field for a bit. This is interesting, because both players are coming off of underwhelming performances in which they were outplayed in Cincinnati's first preseason game of the season, and both would benefit from a bounce-back performance.

Browning went 10-for-18 for just 52 yards and an interception during the first preseason game, and he looked lost out there a few times. Meanwhile, third-stringer Logan Woodside turned in a much better performance. He went 8-for-12 for 149 yards and had a nice touchdown toss to rookie receiver Jermaine Burton. Woodside finished the game with an impressive quarterback rating of 137.2.

Browning isn't going to lose the backup QB job after one poor performance, especially after how well he played down the stretch in Joe Burrow's absence last season. But, if he's limited during practice and the next two preseason contests and Woodside continues to perform well, could we see a world where Woodside overtakes Browning to become Burrow's backup heading into the season? It's doubtful, but crazier things have happened.

The same could be said about Brad Robbins, but the potential for a change there seems a little more likely. Robbins was underwhelming as the team's primary punter last season, and he didn't do himself any favors in the preseason opener, as he was out-punted by Ryan Rehkow. Both punters had three attempts in the contest, and Rehkow's three kicks went for 168 total yards while Robbins' went for 150.

The Bengals are likely to keep just one punter on the roster, so the rest of training camp and the remaining two preseason contests could be critical when it comes to the battle between Robbins and
Rehkow. If Robbins is forced to miss an extended period of time, it could work to give Rehkow an edge.

So, while the injuries to Browning and Robbins might not be major or especially concerning, they could still have a big impact on Cincinnati's regular season roster and depth chart.

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