Bengals vs Eagles inactives for Week 13: A.J. Green, Ryan Mathews, Jordan Matthews out

The Cincinnati Bengals have announced their inactives list for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles and it includes some key offensive starters.

For Cincinnati, the following players are out:

• Defensive lineman Wallace Gilberry
• Long-snapper Clark Harris
• Safety Derron Smith
• Wide receiver A.J. Green
• Tight end C.J. Uzomah
• Offensive lineman Christian Westerman
• Quarterback Jeff Driskel

The big news is Eric Winston will start at right tackle today in place of Cedric Ogbuehi, who is being benched for his poor play. The good news is Ogbuehi is active so we could still see them rotating in this game. It’s interesting to see the Bengals make this move in Week 13, so we’ll see how it plays out. Both players were responsible for a strip sack on Dalton in Week 12.

There are no real surprises here. A.J. Green is out once again while dealing with his strained hamstring. He may return next week, but even that is a stretch. His injury allows rookie Cody Core to be active once again. Core has only been active when one of the other receivers have been out, so hopefully we see more of the rookie today.

Derron Smith is out again, leaving the Bengals with a thin safety group. The good news is Shawn Williams is back after missing last week. We could still see Josh Shaw get some snaps at safety after he started there last week.

C.J. Uzomah is also out, leaving the Bengals thin at tight end, but Tyler Kroft is active, meaning he’s recovered from his concussion, suffered last week.

With Wallace Gilberry out due to his calf injury, Margus Hunt is active again. Hunt was a healthy scratch when Gilberry first re-joined the Bengals in Week 10.

As for the Eagles, their inactives include:

• Wide receiver Jordan Matthews
• Running back Ryan Mathews
• Offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai
• Defensive lineman Steven Means
• Offensive lineman Dillon Gordon
• Defensive lineman Taylor Hart
• Offensive lineman Josh Andrews

The biggest question coming into the game was regarding No. 1 receiver Jordan Matthews. He suffered an ankle injury during Monday’s loss to the Packers, and there was serious doubt if he would play this Sunday on a short week.

He is inactive for this game, leaving the Eagles without their top pass-catcher. That should offer a big boost for the Bengals defense.

The Eagles are also without starting right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai due to a back injury, as well as starting running back Ryan Mathews, who is still sidelined with a knee injury. Vaitai’s injury is significant since he’s the backup to Lane Johnson, who’s currently serving a 10 game suspension. So, the Eagles will be playing their third option at the position.

That’s some significant losses for the Eagles, but those were the only guys listed on the final injury report, so they’re still pretty healthy coming into this matchup.