The Cincinnati Bengals aren’t sleeping on the Tennessee Titans simply because their upcoming opponent traded away one of the best players in football.
Funnily enough, the Bengals sort of set the tone for blockbuster defensive linemen trades in the modern NFL with the Dexter Lawrence deal. The Chicago Bears just pulled off something similar while acquiring Jeffery Simmons from the Titans.
Bengals players like center Ted Karras, though, aren’t shy about classifying Sunday’s game as a trap game regardless.
"If you let it happen, yes," Karras told Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com about trap games. "I'm out here bleeding on a Thursday to win this ballgame. We have to take a deeper look and anticipate how they'll play without him."
Next to Karras, guard Dalton
Risner didn’t want to make Sunday’s game all about the sudden absence of Simmons.
“Jeffrey Simmons isn't the only good football player on that team,” Risner told Hobson. “They have John Franklin-Myers and Solomon Thomas, who I think are playing at a really high level. Stackhouse has come in and played good football…I really hope it doesn't make this become about Jeffrey Simmons leaving because those other guys are good. We can't fall into that."
All true and fair, of course. But the Bengals were big favorites when Simmons was a factor for the game. The Titans are 1-6 and in the middle of a fire sale while undergoing major overarching changes. The Joe Burrow vs. Cam Ward matchup isn’t much of a discussion.
Granted, Bengals fans will like hearing these sorts of comments from players, given the penchant for trap games over the years, especially against “bad” or backup quarterbacks. They’re saying the right things, at least, before hoping to do the right things, too.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals stress trap game vs. Titans after Jeffery Simmons trade
