One of the primary concerns regarding a possible Bengals regression this season stemmed from the incredible injury luck experienced during last season’s run to the Super Bowl.
Nearly every starter played every game with only a season-ending injury to right tackle Riley Reiff and a dislocated ankle suffered by Larry Ogunjobi in the first playoff game marring a generally clean slate for starters over the course of the year.
Missing for a week here or there happened and Joe Burrow battled about every nagging ding imaginable from his throat to his pinkie to his knee, but they were as healthy as any team in recent Bengals history.
Cincinnati has not enjoyed quite the same injury luck this season, although relatively speaking, the Bengals are far from the worst.
They lost top corner Chidobe Awuzie for the year and Ja’Marr Chase for a month. They missed DJ Reader for a month and Josh Tupou for six weeks. Tee Higgins, Hayden Hurst and Joe Mixon missed multiple games. Drew Sample and Clark Harris were lost for the year. Mike Hilton missed two weeks, Sam Hubbard (calf) will be added to the list missing time and Trey Hendrickson (wrist) missed this past week.
At one point against Tampa Bay, practice squad elevation Allan George was at outside cornerback and Dax Hill made his starting debut out of position at slot corner opposite Eli Apple with Cam Sample and Joseph Ossai serving as edge rushers.
What’s happened, however, is those waiting for the Bengals to crumble as significant injuries began to pile up for the first time in two years have witnessed the opposite. They’ve kept going without missing a beat. New names filled the spots, but production continued.
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