Bengals activate Markus Bailey from COVID-19 list

The Cincinnati Bengals have returned linebacker Markus Bailey to the active roster from the NFL COVID-19 list, the team announced Thursday.

Bailey, a second-year player out of Purdue, had been on the COVID-19 list since Nov. 9. He’s been active in all nine games this season, so it doesn’t appear he’ll miss his first game when the Bengals face the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11.

A seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Bailey played in 11 games as a rookie, primarily on special teams where he logged 136 snaps compared to just 44 defensive snaps.

This year, Bailey has logged 35 defensive snaps and 164 special teams snaps. He has five career tackles and two pass deflections.

A big reason why Bailey nearly went undrafted in 2020 were the number of major injuries he suffered in college. He’s done well at staying healthy in the pros.

Now, it’s just a matter of earning more snaps, which Bailey has a chance to do now with starting linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither set to miss the remainder of the season.