Bengals suffer a serious blow on their quest to become a more serviceable, pass-cover-tough defense when the teams announced that Johnathan Joseph will be placed on Injured Reserve because of reoccurring foot injury. In response, the Bengals signed Simeon "thank god it's not Geoffrey Pope" Castille, which opens up a second spot on the team's practice squad.
Joseph's durability was a concern coming out of college when he suffered a broken foot in 2004 while with South Carolina. During his first two seasons, he played 31 of 32 games, missing the 27-20 loss at Kansas City in 2007 serving a one-game suspension. He missed two games this season after suffering an ankle injury against the Giants and Browns. Joseph recorded a season-high 15 tackles during the Bengals lone win this season and led the team with 13 pass defensed throughout the season.
Joseph is signed for two more seasons, scheduled to earn $660,000 in 2009 and $875,000 in 2010.
This is the 12th player on the roster placed on IR, and like the 15th player total after several were injury/waived with an injury settlement.