How NFL teams deal with adversity can make or break a season. The Cincinnati Bengals’ defense is about to learn a lot about itself with the hand it has recently been dealt.
The Bengals are preparing for a critical AFC showdown with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 4 and could be without several key players in the secondary.
Let’s start at cornerback. Cincinnati put starting slot cornerback Jalen Davis on injured reserve on Sept. 29. His backup, Ja’Sir Taylor, is also on injured reserve. Meaning, the Bengals are without their top two slot cornerbacks. Fortunately, the Bengals have Dax Hill, who has experience playing at the position and can be moved from outside cornerback to the slot.
With Hill moving inside, it leaves an opening at outside cornerback
opposite DJ Turner II. The Bengals will look to DJ Ivey and rookie Tacario Davis to fill Hill’s role outside. Ivey, the Bengals’ seventh-round draft pick in 2023, is likely to get the start based off his experience (four years) with the club and Davis’ slow start to the season. Davis will see time on the field, though.
Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden wants Davis to cut down on his penalties. Davis has been responsible for three costly penalties in three games. The Bengals selected Davis in the third round of this year’s draft out of the University of Washington.
“We’re really pushing him to really take that big step,” Golden said. "I thought the second half he was much better in that game. He’s got to continue on that. Play hard, play with confidence, eliminate any of the clutching and then trust his speed. We need him to grow up fast; everybody knows that. Our job is to put him in a position to be successful.”
It’s not ideal for Hill to move inside as he’s proved to be better playing outside, but moving him to starting slot cornerback is the Bengals’ best option in this scenario. The Bengals will use Josh Newton in a backup role for Hill and at outside cornerback against Jacksonville. Newton’s career with the Bengals has been full of ups and downs, but the team is hopeful whatever role he’s expected to fill, he’ll do so at a high level.
Whether it’s Ivey or Davis playing outside, they’ll have their hands full trying to stop the Jaguars’ passing attack. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence is playing at a high level, and so are his wide receivers. Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers and Brian Thomas make up one the NFL’s best wide receiver trios. These three Jacksonville wideouts have caught a combined 32 passes for 433 yards and four touchdowns in three games.
Now let’s move to the safety spot where the Bengals are dealing with even more injuries.
Bryan Cook (ankle) and backup Kyle Duggar (quadricep) didn’t practice on Sept. 30. Jordan Battle was a limited participant with a hamstring injury. All three safeties are nursing some sort of injury.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Cook and Dugger should be viewed as day-to-day. The Bengals will see how much progress Cook and Dugger make as the week goes on before deciding their roles in Week 4.
If Cook and Dugger aren’t available to the Bengals against the Jaguars, Cincinnati will rely on backup safeties Russ Yeast, who’s currently on the practice squad, and PJ Jules. Battle’s injury is also one to keep an eye on as hamstring injuries often linger.
“I love Russ,” Golden said. “Physical, I thought he showed up all camp. We’ll see. I think PJ had a really good camp, too. Whoever ends up playing, we’re ready to go.”
Golden said Cook and Battle took the reps in walk-through on Sept. 23. Yeast and Jules will get the majority of the reps at practice this week to ensure they’re ready to go if Cook and Duggar aren’t able to play against Jacksonville.
The Bengals are coming off their worst defensive performance of the season, giving up 411 total yards of offense to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Golden wants a better showing from his group this week, regardless of who’s playing in the secondary.
“It’s really important that we understand that this is a really, really long journey,” Golden said. "We didn’t execute enough at a high level. If we (cut out) half of the plays, we could have done a better job. It could have been a much different outcome, and we (have) to help the offense more than we did.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Explaining why the Bengals' injuries in the secondary are significant
