Bengals put D’Ante Smith on IR; elevate Joe Bachie and Trayveon Williams

The Cincinnati Bengals have placed offensive lineman D’Ante Smith on injured reserve, the team announced Saturday.

In addition, the Bengals have elevated running back Trayveon Williams and linebacker Joe Bachie from the practice squad to the active roster for tomorrow’s game vs. the Detroit Lions.

Bachie is classified as a COVID-19 replacement, and Williams is classified as a standard elevation. Both players will revert back to the practice squad on Monday.

Williams is essentially filling the spot vacated by running back Samaje Perine, who went on the NFL COVID-19 reserve list this week. Bachie is likely filling the role left by Jordan Evans, who suffered a torn ACL in Week 5.

Smith, a rookie out of East Carolina, suffered a right knee injury in practice on Wednesday, which turned out to be a torn meniscus he’ll have surgery on. He had played in one game this season after being a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

At this time, it’s unclear if Smith will be able to return later this season. He must remain on injured reserve for at least three weeks, though he’s obviously going to be out longer than that.