The Bengals returned to practice on Wednesday as they prepare to take on the Steelers on Sunday afternoon. The day started with good news as no unexpected players were on the rehab field, a sign that everyone escaped New York without any significant injuries.
On the rehab field were Tyler Eifert (who has been ruled out for Sunday) as well as William Jackson III and Brandon Thompson, per Jay Morrison. Jackson is on Injured Reserve so the soonest he can return to action is Week 9, should the team decide to use their one designation to return on the rookie. Thompson could return as soon as Week 7, if by then he’s fully recovered from his ACL team suffered in January.
Here’s a good tidbit on Eifert’s rehab work from Jeremy Rauch of FOX 19.
Noticed Tyler Eifert doing a lot of lateral movement work on rehab field while I was at practice. Lateral strength big key in his return.
— Jeremy Rauch (@FOX19Jeremy) September 14, 2016
Darqueze Dennard was actively practicing after sitting out of the Week 1 win over the Jets. He was limited in all of last week's practices. The hope is that he will fully practice this week and return to action against the Steelers.
Left tackle Andrew Whitworth received a veterans rest day on Wednesday, per Richard Skinner. We should expect Whitworth to get about one rest day per week going forward, as he did nearly every week last season.
Pat Sims, who sat out last Wednesday before practicing fully on Thursday and Friday also missed practice, according to Paul Dehner Jr. Sims was on last week’s injury report with an achilles injury. In Sunday’s matchup with New York, Sims played 38 percent of defensive snaps. He might just be getting some rest to further improve the condition of what was bothering him last week.
The Bengals will practice again on Thursday and Friday before traveling to Pittsburgh on Saturday.