Bengals DT Geno Atkins dealing with toe injury

As if the Bengals didn’t have enough injuries, they can now add Geno Atkins to the list of players battling injury ahead of the Chicago Bears game.

On Thursday, Atkins missed practice with a toe injury. It was not something previously listed on the injury report, so it’s possible the injury occurred during Wednesday’s practice.

On Friday morning, he was seen in the locker room in a walking boot, which isn’t a promising sign.

Regardless of when the injury happened, seeing Atkins not practice is very concerning for his Week 14 status. The Bengals badly need him to play with so many other starting defenders likely out for this game.

In 12 games this season, Atkins has recorded seven sacks and 40 tackles. That only begins to show the kind of impact the All-Pro defensive tackle is having.

Entering Week 14, Atkins ranks second in Pro Football Football rankings of interior defenders (4-3 defensive tackles and 3-4 nose tackles). He’s still one of the best defensive linemen the NFL has, so losing him would be a massive loss for this struggling defense.

Per Geoff Hobson the injury is not expected to be serious, but, you never really know.

If Atkins misses this game, it means Ryan Glasgow, Pat Sims and Andrew Billings would see a lot more playing time against the Bears this Sunday.