During Saturday’s game against the Vikings, the Bengals saw two players be carted off the field due to injury. Both DT DJ Reader and CB DJ Ivey have since been placed on IR.
Reader will miss the remainder of the season with what testing determined to be a torn quad. The veteran NT has been the heart and soul of the Bengals run defence. One of the best run defenders in the league, he will be missed. In the meantime, Josh Topou is expected to fill in, while other guys like Jay Tufele and Zach Carter may also see an uptick in snaps. Reader, meanwhile, is a free agent at the end of this year. The injury is likely to have an impact on his potential market, and the Bengals will have to decide if the risk is worth pursuing another contract with him.
Like Reader, Ivey will also miss the remainder of the season. He suffered a torn ACL at the end of a special teams play, with the Vikings punting to the Bengals. When active, the rookie had almost exclusively been a special teamer. However, in recent weeks, he had been given a few defensive snaps here and there. Though a very small sample size, Ivey had impressed in those snaps, and was even able to make a nice pass breakup on a deep ball against the Colts.
With the open roster spots, the Bengals will be making some additions to the active roster. They have DT Domenique Davis on the practice squad. Perhaps he earns a call up. At CB, Sidney Jones and Allan George are potential replacement options. Or, they could make an outside addition. We will see.
Modified Homescreen Image Via: Eli Marshall