The Cincinnati Bengals have some very obviously struggling defensive players right now.
Jordan Battle and some of his weird comments are one, of course.
But another struggling defender is linebacker Demetrius Knight, which seemed to prompt response from the coaching staff one week ago when he notably left the lineup for Oren Burks at times.
But according to Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden this week, the staff yanked Knight from the game over hydration and temperature concerns.
"The heat creeped up a little bit, probably a little bit more than we thought it would on Tuesday or Wednesday, and the last time we were home and it was hot,” Golden said, according to Mike Petraglia of CLNS Media. “He was needing IVs and everything else (vs. TB).
So we just wanted to make sure we had a good rotation there. And OB (Burks) comes in and makes a great stop on the draw, which was great. And we need that. We need that from multiple people."
This is a borderline really silly quote from Golden. Knight might be dealing with cramps early in the season. That’s not all that unusual. But this was a Week 4 game and the high in Cincinnati was 76. Knight…hails from Georgia and played college ball at South Carolina.
This isn’t as simple as straight-up temperatures, no doubt. But it is simple to just say a player was struggling and move on, rather than whatever this window dressing is from Golden.
If nothing else, it’ll be interesting to watch how these conversations shift now that the temperatures are starting to nosedive in October, at least.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals coach makes a weird defense for struggling player
