The Bengals and Steelers always seem to wear each other down, and this week’s game seemed to be no different in that respect. Here are the injuries the Bengals sustained during their game against Pittsburgh.
Nick Vigil
Linebacker Nick Vigil was one of the first players injured for the Bengals. He went to the locker room with a left knee injury, and he was pretty quickly ruled out for the game. That isn’t a great sign for his availability for the short-term and maybe even long-term. He was replaced by a committee that included Vincent Rey, Hardy Nickerson and Jordan Evans.
Darqueze Dennard
Cornerback Darqueze Dennard was also ruled out with a shoulder injury (and probably a little bit of a hurt pride after JuJu Smith-Schuster took an interception away from him). Dennard was replaced by Tony McRae and rookie Darius Phillips even made an appearance as well.
After the game, neither Dennard or Vigil seemed like they were in good shape as Vigil was on crutches and Dennard was wearing a sling. The Bengals however are still holding out hope that both have sprains.
Other injuries...
The Bengals also saw cornerbacks William Jackson and Dre Kirkpatrick exit the game late. Jackson had been dealing with a knee injury throughout the week that caused him to be questionable heading into the game. Kirkpatrick still made several plays late that kept the Bengals in it. Carlos Dunlap also had a brief exit with an ankle injury but later returned to the game.
Shawn Williams and Jessie Bates both left the game at one point during the second half, but after being examined for concussions, both returned to the game. Williams was knocked out a second time on the drive after the Bengals’ goal line stand and was examined again for a concussion. He did not return after the second exit with a concussion. Clayton Fejedelem replaced the veteran safety. And Brandon Wilson got some play, too.
Prior injuries
The Bengals were without John Ross (groin), Giovani Bernard (sprained MCL) and Billy Price (foot) for the game. All three were inactive for the matchup. Ross was mostly replaced by Alex Erickson, but we also saw Cody Core have three crucial drops during the game as well. Mark Walton saw plenty of playing time as he was heavily rotated in with Joe Mixon. No other running back was active. Trey Hopkins also filled in for Price once again.
The Bengals practice on Wednesday in preparation for their Week 7 Sunday Night Football tilt with the Chiefs. Expect the first injury report of the week then.