Bengals lose Dre Kirkpatrick, Shawn Williams, Clark Harris to injuries

The Bengals could not catch a break on the injury front against the Bills on Sunday.

Late in the second half while trailing by four, starting cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was lost to a knee injury. He was quickly announced as out by the team, which is never a good sign.

With Kirkpatrick out, the Bengals are left with Adam Jones, Josh Shaw, Darqueze Dennard, and Chykie Brown to finish out the game. Hopefully, it won’t be too serious with the Bengals traveling to Baltimore next week.

The Bengals also lost long-snapper Clark Harris in the second half to an injury suffered on punt coverage. He was trying to make a tackle along the sideline, but injured himself and had to leave the game.

Harris did eventually return in the fourth quarter, but he was clearly hobbled and could not even run when he went back out on punt coverage.

If needed, the Bengals will rely on h-back Ryan Hewitt as the backup long-snapper. That’s not ideal, but it is what it is. He was practicing snaps on the sideline after Harris left the field.

Elsewhere, starting safety Shawn Williams left the game in the first half with a hamstring injury. His return was initially called questionable, but he has not returned to the game as Derron Smith took his place in the second half.

Vinny Rey was also injured in the quarter but is expected to play through a right thigh injury.

This all comes after A.J. Green was injured and ruled out in the first quarter. Vontaze Burfict also left the game with a neck injury and was shaken up on another play. But, he did return to the action.

We’ll have more on both of these injuries as more details come out.