D.J. Reader placed on injured reserve

UPDATE

The Cincinnati Bengals have officially placed defensive tackle D.J. Reader on injured reserve, the team announced Wednesday. He will be sidelined for at least the next four games before being eligible to get the IR-return designation.

Reader, a seventh-year player out of Clemson, suffered a left knee injury in Sunday’s win over the New York Jets.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Reader has an MCL injury and is expected to miss around six weeks.

Here’s to hoping we see the big man back in the lineup in the coming months.

The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off their first win of the 2022 season, but even in victory, they suffered a significant loss.

According to Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Kelsey Conway, defensive tackle D.J. Reader will be sidelined for the foreseeable future due to a knee injury sustained in Sunday’s win over the New York Jets. He’ll obviously miss Week 4 vs. the Miami Dolphins.

Thankfully, Conway reports that it’s not a season-ending injury, so we may very well see Reader back in uniform before the 2022 season comes to a close.

Personally, I’m choosing to take this as good news. While it’s unfortunate that Reader is going to miss time, it’s not a season-ending injury, which would have been his second in three years.

When Reader went down Sunday and was very quickly ruled out, there was real fear his season was over. Now, it looks like he’ll just miss 1-2 months of action.

If Reader misses, let’s say two months, he could return around Week 12 vs. the Tennessee Titans or Week 13 vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. But even if Reader is out longer, it doesn’t appear he’ll spend the 2023 offseason rehabbing from another season-ending injury.

With Reader out, guys who figure to get more playing time moving forward include veteran Josh Tupou, third-round rookie Zach Carter, and recently-acquired Jay Tufele.

Assuming Reader goes on injured reserve soon, look for the Bengals to add another defensive tackle to the roster, which could come from the practice squad where Tyler Shelvin and Domenique Davis currently reside.

While Cincinnati could kick the tires on some street free agents, don’t expect anyone new to be signed before Thursday’s game vs. Miami.

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