Bengals make MAJOR moves... - Multiple Injury Updates | Cincinnati Bengals News

We have some huge news to go over today as the Cincinnati Bengals just made an absolutely crucial move. On Thursday, they cleared three players on injured reserve to return to practice, receiver Andre Joshu, rookie guard Brian Parker II, and veteran corner Jalen Davis. Now the receiver name is the one that most fans are going to notice first, but I think the return that could matter the most this week is the slot corner position. Jalen Davis got hurt in Pittsburgh in week three, and Pittsburgh is exactly who comes to town on Sunday Night Football. Both teams are 6-2, with first place in the AFC North on the line. And the secondary that has to stop Aaron Rodgers just got thinner because safety Kyle Duggar missed Wednesday's practice, and DJ Turner was limited with an ankle. So whether Jalen Davis makes it back in time could decide who wakes up Monday in first place in the division. But to see why, you have to go back to the afternoon that he got hurt. Davis was the Bengals starting nickel, the corner who covers the slot receiver when they go to five defensive backs. The team's own website called him the Bengals long shot success story, a guy who's been fighting for a roster spot in every camp since 2021. He took over the slot in the second half of last season and that tape is what won him the job this year. For a player who spent years fighting just to make the team, that job was everything to him. In the first two games he had a pass defended in each one and the Bengals started 2-0. Then came Pittsburgh. Davis gave up the game's first touchdown in coverage and early in the second half he left with a hamstring injury and never came back. Aaron Rodgers then threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns that day. Roman Wilson scored from 38 yards out, Ben Skoranek from 23, and DK Metcalf from six. Burrow lost a fumble inside the final minute and the Steelers walked off with a 30-27 Two days later, Davis went on injured reserve out for at least four games. The Bengals signed Tanner Hudson off the practice squad to take his roster spot. In the backup slot corner, Josier Taylor was on IR as well. So the Bengals had to build a new slot corner on the fly with Pittsburgh already holding the head-to-head win over them and they've pulled even in the standings since and the people trading on this race have noticed. This video is brought to you by Kalshi. On Kalshi you're trading directly against other users not the house like a traditional sportsbook. So you're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events across sports, politics, or even the weather. For example, right now in the AFC North division winner market, the Bengals are trading at 63% and the Steelers at 31. Sunday night is the kind of game that could swing a line like that in three hours. So if you're interested in trying out Kalshi, be sure to click the link in the description below as well as the pinned comment and use code Digest NFL to get $55 added to your account Count instantly when you trade your first $25. Now back to the hole that Davis left behind. Since Davis went down, the Bengals have tried just about everyone in his spot as a replacement. Dax Hill moved inside from the boundary and third round rookie Takario Davis took Hill's job on the outside. A-Z Sports put it bluntly, Hill was their best remaining nickel and the rookie was their best remaining option outside. The rookie played 27 snaps in Pittsburgh that day. The next week against Jacksonville, DJ Ivy out-snapped him 39-9. Ivy only gave up one catch for 16 yards, but the Bengals still lost that game 22-17. Against Tennessee, Hill started in the slot and then moved back outside, and Josh Newton took over inside. Newton gave up four catches on six targets for 49 yards that day. He did break up a pass on third down, so it wasn't all bad. That's four different corners shuffling through two spots in five games. But the rookie hasn't stuck. Fox 19 listed Tarkio Davis as benched on November 2nd with 10 solo tackles on the season. And typically, you'd expect a defense to really fall apart with that much shuffling. In the three games with Davis, the Bengals allowed 21 points a game. In the five games since, they've allowed 22.4. That's 1.4 points a game. They've gone 4-1 without him, and the only loss was Jacksonville the first week he was out. So we gotta be honest here about Jalen Davis. Before he got hurt, A to Z Sports wrote that he was struggling both in coverage and against the run. So he isn't coming back to necessarily save this defense. But his value is something else and you really only see it when the room starts to run out of bodies. And that already happened once against Tennessee on November 1st. DJ Turner went down with a left ankle injury and was ruled out. That left the Bengals with three corners. DJ Ivy, Josh Newton, and Dax Hill. Paul Danner Jr. called the Turner injury massive given the depth issues in the secondary. Tennessee went on to score 36 points in regulation the most anyone has put on Cincinnati this season. The Bengals needed 43 points and overtime to survive a matchup that they really shouldn't have even been close in. DJ Turner is the one corner on this roster that most teams don't want to test. Teams have stayed as far away from him as possible this season and as Paul Danner put it consistently throwing the other direction. He still has five passes defended this season and in that Tennessee game he forced two fumbles before he went down. Now that ankle has him limited in practice again. The good news is he bounced back fast last time. He was off the injury report five days later and was a game captain in Madrid. If he can't finish Sunday, Ivy and Newton are right back to being the answer on the outside and in the slot. Kyle Duggar is a bigger worry. Zach Taylor called him week to week with a quad injury on October 28th and he hasn't played since. He missed every practice the week in Madrid and he missed Wednesday as well. So if you put that all together, there's a safety out, the corner that teams avoid is banged up, and the backup slot is still on IR. And that's where Jalen Davis comes in. Now he doesn't have to be great. He has to be a veteran that knows this defense so that nobody is clueless going in on Sunday night football. Davis has been in this system since 2021 and this coaching staff has trusted him with the slot before, namely the start of the season. Against a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers, he's still Aaron Rodgers and the worst thing you can have is a corner seeing that spot for the first time. If these daily Bengals breakdowns keep you up to date with this team, be sure to hit the like button right now. Let's beat this month's best of 89 likes. I know you guys can do it. Now, opening the window does not mean that any of these three play on Sunday. It means they can practice and the Bengals now have 21 days to put each of them back on the 53 man roster. The coaches get to watch all three of them practice, then activate each one whenever they're ready inside that window. If one of them isn't activated by December 3rd, he reverts to injured reserve for the rest of the season. And that window covers three games, Pittsburgh, At Washington on November 23rd, and New Orleans on November 29th. But there is a second limit, and it's one that most fans don't know about. Cincinnati reportedly has six activation spots left for the season. Bringing back Davis and Yoshivas reportedly uses two of them, which leaves four for the last nine games. There's room for at least one of them right now. The Bengals were... Carrying 52 players in Madrid, one short of a full roster. With injuries piling up in the secondary, every single one of those four activations is worth something in December. Yoshivas hasn't played since week two, and Dante Myers has made his own case for the wide receiver three job in that time, which we talked about yesterday. So his return is about depth for the stretch run more than a starting job on Sunday. Then there's a third name on the list, the rookie Brian Parker II. He was the Bengals' sixth round pick this spring, 189th overall. And a pick that late is not usually expected to start as a rookie, so this window is mostly about the future. In the preseason, he played left guard, right guard, and center, and the coaches had him penciled in at right guard. Then, he got hurt in the final preseason game and went on IR with the designation to return. In the preseason, Jalen Rivers took over at right guard. And Jacob Bayer made the 53-man roster as interior depth. And for a rookie, three weeks of real practice is a chance to show the coaches he belongs before that clock runs out. But only one of these three can really change Sunday night's outcome. Pittsburgh comes to Cincinnati on Sunday at 820 on NBC. Rodgers averages 234 passing yards a game this season. And he put up 292 on this defense in September. And only one game this year was better for him. That was the game that Davis couldn't finish and Pittsburgh drove for the winning field goal at the end. And Cincinnati, this time, might either have their nickel back or it might be another week of shuffling around the secondary. So the stakes really are simple. A win Sunday puts the Bengals alone in first place in the AFC North with eight games left. Lose, and Pittsburgh has beaten them twice, clean sweep, which wins the head-to-head tiebreaker between the two teams, which really matters come playoff time. So I personally think of these people who just had their windows opened, I think Jalen Davis is probably the biggest, most impactful one of the three. And not necessarily because he's a great, phenomenal player, but it's more because of who's hurt with Dugger out and DJ Turner limited, Taylor on IR. I mean, the 36 against Tennessee is what it looks like when this room runs out of corners. However, He wasn't looking great before the injury. He was struggling before, and they did go 4-1 without him. So keep an eye on the roster moves on Saturday, and if he's activated, he's in for Pittsburgh. So of the main two, which do you think matters more for the rest of this season, Jalen Davis or Andre Iosivas? Let me know in the comments down below, and I'll see you guys Sunday night.