The Cincinnati Bengals, who are hoping to build on their season’s opening victory, received additional good news on Friday before facing the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5 of the division. The squad will have several of its most important defensive players who were injured return for the rivalry match, as head coach Zac Taylor stated two days prior to kickoff.
Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic, defensive lineman BJ Hill, Myles Murphy, and McKinney Jackson will all be back for Week 5, according Taylor. Trey Hendrickson, the defensive end, also cleared the injury protocol after being labeled as questionable throughout the whole week following a minor neck injury he sustained against the Panthers.
Murphy and Jackson will be returning from injured reserve while Hill will come back from a two-game layoff due to a hamstring ailment. Dehner also mentioned that Taylor declined to provide an update on linebacker Germaine Pratt or cornerback Mike Hilton, but did clarify that starting defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins will be ineligible for the contest.
The Bengals were forced to throw second-round rookie Kris Jenkins Jr. into the fire after losing both Hill and Rankins for the last two weeks. Jenkins Jr. performed admirably in his fill-in job. Longtime New England Patriots lineman Lawrence Guy was also signed by the organization via free agency.
Cincinnati enabled Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard to rush for 104 yards and a touchdown on the ground while its essential players were out of the game.
As has been the status quo for the Bengals in recent years, the 2022 Super Bowl runner-ups have gotten off to a slow start in 2024. Cincinnati recovered from an 0-3 start by picking up a win over Carolina in Week 4 but will nonetheless begin divisional play with a mere 1-3 record.
The return of Cincinnati’s crucial members of the front seven will be significant in their Week 5 matchup with Baltimore, who amassed 271 rushing yards against Buffalo in Week 4. Four games into the season, star tailback Derrick Henry is averaging 120 rushing yards per game and is coming off back-to-back performances of over 150 yards on the ground.
The increasing health of the Bengals’ defense is encouraging but much of the team’s struggles thus far have been on offense, where they are hurting from the absence of Joe Mixon and have played half of the young season so far without Tee Higgins. Higgins returned from a hamstring injury in Week 3 and worked himself back up to a full workload in Week 4.
Be the first to comment