Bengals ‘optimistic’ about D.J. Reader’s return ahead of critical matchup against Steelers

Kelsey Conway, Cincinnati Enquirer

November 14, 2022 at 3:54 PM·4 min read

The Cincinnati Bengals (5-4) cleared defensive tackle D.J. Reader to return to practice on Monday.

Reader, 28, tore his MCL in two different places early in the season when the Bengals faced the Ravens on Oct. 11.

It was a massive blow to Cincinnati’s defense when Reader went down. At the time of the injury, Reader was playing as well as any defensive tackle in the NFL. He plays a significant role for the Bengals and his absence over the last month has been noticeable, especially when Cincinnati has played teams with good rushing attacks.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle D.J. Reader is expected to return to the practice field this week.

Through four games this season, Reader recorded 10 tackles, eight quarterback hurries, three hits and one fumble recovery.

'I'm living in the now':Bengals safety Jessie Bates is in a much better headspace in 2022

Joe Mixon:The Bengals have switched up the run game to get the best out of him

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said he’s “optimistic” about Reader’s availability for Sunday but didn’t want to make any promises. Reader and Cincinnati’s training staff will need to make sure three days of practices go well before being able to say for sure he’ll be able to play.

“I’m feeling good,” Reader said. “We’ll see how the rest of the week goes. We’ll push it and stay on top of it.”

The Bengals’ defensive line is at its best when it has Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson rushing outside and B.J. Hill and Reader dominating on the interior. If all four can play against the Steelers, defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo can mix up his different pressure looks. With Reader out, Anarumo had to change what he could and couldn’t call.

In addition to Reader’s talent on the field, he’s also one of the key team leaders. Reader was voted as a team captain for the first time in his professional career this year. As the Bengals enter the second half of their season hoping to make a playoff push, they’ll need Reader’s leadership and talent.

“He’s one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL,” Taylor said of Reader. “It’s not just the pass rush, it’s the run downs as well. He does such a great job of winning and freeing up those around him on the line of scrimmage. Freeing up the backers behind him. That’s a big piece. If he’s able to play Sunday. He’s a captain so he brings all of those leadership things to the table as well. Tremendous energy. He’s a great playmaker and we’re lucky to have him on our team. Getting him back here for this last half of the season is critical for us.”

The Bengals rank No. 17 (118.8 yards per game) in the NFL against the run and No. 12 (205.2 ypg) against the pass.

D.J. Reader's return important in wake of Chidobe Awuzie injury

Getting Reader back is especially important due to the loss of top cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. Cincinnati will be without its top cover cornerback for the rest of the season due to Awuzie tearing his ACL against the Cleveland Browns at the end of October.

The Bengals avoided the injury bug in 2021 but that hasn’t been the case this year. Reader was the first major injury to a starter, then the team lost wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase to a hip injury. His timeline to return is to be determined. Linebacker Logan Wilson also avoided a season-ending shoulder injury but missed the Week 7 contest against the Atlanta Falcons. Then Awuzie’s injury happened in Cleveland in Week 8 where Eli Apple also didn’t play due to a hamstring injury. Slot cornerback Mike Hilton underwent surgery on his pinky and couldn’t play against the Panthers right before the bye week. And now rookie safety Dax Hill is day-to-day with a shoulder injury.

There’s been a lot of attrition the Bengals have had to overcome and yet they still control their own destiny. With Reader back, Cincinnati hopes its defense gets a boost.

This is the second major injury of Reader’s career as he tore his quad in 2020 and couldn’t finish his first season with the Bengals. Reader said he’s had the itch to get back but knows the importance of rehab to ensure he’s at full strength when he returns because his team needs the best version of himself.

“It's an itch. I've been blessed to play a game that I really, really, truly love and compete at something I enjoy to the fullest, so it's an itch that you get not being able to be out there, that smell of the fall and football on Sundays, it doesn't just go away. It doesn't go away for a long time," he said. "As a competitor, you always want to get out there, but you know you have to do what's best for your body. You want to be able to be out there and help the team. You don't want to be out there hurting the team. "

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: D.J. Reader injury update: Bengals optimistic he'll play vs. Steelers

Associated Press
Storm blankets parts of the US during busy holiday travel weekend with more snow and cold forecast
The first big snowfall of the season blanketed parts of New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan during the hectic U.S. holiday travel and shopping weekend, with numbing cold and heavy snow forecast to persist through the early part of the week and cause hazards in the Great Lakes, Plains and Midwest regions. A blast of Arctic air brought bitter temperatures of 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit below average to the Northern Plains, the weather service said, prompting cold advisories for parts of North Dakota. Nearly 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow fell in parts of New York, Ohio and Michigan and 29 inches (73 centimeters) was recorded in Pennsylvania’s northwestern tip.
AFP
Turmoil overshadows Romania vote as far right hopes to gain ground
Still reeling from this week's shock developments, Romanians returned to the polls on Sunday to elect their parliament, with the far right tipped to win, potentially heralding a shift in the NATO country's foreign policy.In recent years, around 30 percent of Romanians have embraced far-right views, even if they have not always voted for them in elections.
CNN
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te in Hawaii: A stopover that speaks volumes
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s brief stop in Hawaii may have appeared understated – no formal US reception, no grand speeches – but its implications extend far beyond floral wreaths and banquets.
Associated Press
Bee 'rescuer' in Peruvian capital plies his trade with passion, free of charge
Alfredo Santiago has a unique job in Peru 's capital city of Lima: he's a bee rescuer. Once he has gotten enough requests, Santiago dons his white, one-piece beekeeper suit, takes a smoker and a wooden box and hits the streets of Lima, a city of 10 million.
Reuters
Biden’s long-awaited Africa trip to tout a win against China
Joe Biden sets off for Angola on Sunday on a trip that will deliver on a promise to visit Africa during his presidency and focus on a major, U.S.-backed railway project that aims to divert critical minerals away from China. The project, partly funded with a U.S. loan, links the resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to the Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean, offering a fast and efficient route for exports to the West. At stake are vast supplies of minerals like copper and cobalt, which are found in Congo and are a key component of batteries and other electronics.
Associated Press
Trump says he'll nominate Kash Patel as FBI director to remake the agency. Here's what happens next
President-elect Donald Trump’s stunning announcement on Saturday night that he will nominate Kash Patel as FBI director sets the stage for a fresh round of turbulence at a law enforcement agency tasked with protecting the homeland and investigating federal crimes. Patel, a steadfast Trump ally with plans to shake up the institution he’s been tapped to lead, is a study in contrasts from the current tight-lipped director who preaches a “keep calm and tackle hard” mantra. In selecting Patel over more conventional contenders, Trump is again testing his ability to get the Senate to bend to his will by confirming some of his more provocative nominees. What happens to the current FBI director?
Associated Press
Romanians cast ballots in parliamentary election as turmoil in presidential race grips the nation
Romanians are casting ballots in a parliamentary election on Sunday sandwiched between a two-round presidential race, the first round of which has plunged the European Union and NATO member country into unprecedented turmoil following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference. Sunday’s vote will elect a new government and prime minister and determine the formation of the country’s 466-seat legislature. Romanians who are abroad have been able to vote since Saturday.
CNN
The race to refloat the Bayesian superyacht
More than three months after the $40 million Bayesian superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily, killing seven people including British tech titan Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, plans to raise the luxury vessel are on the horizon.
Associated Press
Left behind in Kenya, children of British soldiers struggle to find their identity
Margaret Wandia became pregnant after a week-long relationship with a British soldier training near her community in Kenya. Now that son is 26, and he is part of an effort by a Kenyan lawyer to take a number of such children to Britain. It is a long shot after years of attempts by human rights groups to hold the British military and its personnel accountable for their actions during weeks of training in Kenya — including alleged rapes — and the children they leave behind.
CNN
Syrian rebels take control of most of Aleppo city
Syrian opposition forces have taken control of much of the country’s second-largest city Aleppo after a lightning advance that killed dozens of government soldiers in a major challenge to President Bashar al-Assad.
Associated Press
Senegal demands answers as the West African country commemorates a French colonial massacre
THIAROYE-SUR-MER, Senegal (AP) — Biram Senghor regularly goes to pay his respects at a military cemetery in Thiaroye, a fishing village near Senegal’s capital Dakar, bowing in front of a different grave each time. The 86-year-old has no way of knowing which grave belongs to his father, M’Bap Senghor, one of likely hundreds of West African riflemen who fought for France during World War II but were killed on Dec. 1, 1944 by the French army after demanding unpaid wages. The true scale and circumstances of the killings remain unclear as Senegal commemorates the 80th anniversary of the massacre on Sunday, threatening to reignite smoldering tensions between France and the former colony.
Associated Press
A landmark climate change case will open at the top UN court as island nations fear rising seas
The top United Nations court will take up the largest case in its history on Monday, when it opens two weeks of hearings into what countries worldwide are legally required to do to combat climate change and help vulnerable nations fight its devastating impact. After years of lobbying by island nations who fear they could simply disappear under rising sea waters, the U.N. General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice last year for an opinion on “the obligations of States in respect of climate change.” “We want the court to confirm that the conduct that has wrecked the climate is unlawful,” Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, who is leading the legal team for the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, told The Associated Press.
AFP
'Red carpet treatment': Taiwan's Lai feted during US stop on Pacific trip
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te was feted with a red carpet, garlands of flowers and "alohas" as he kicked off his two-day stopover in Hawaii on Saturday, part of a Pacific tour that has sparked fiery rhetoric from Beijing.At every turn, Lai was presented with garlands of brightly coloured flowers or leaves known as leis, greetings of "aloha", and other Hawaiian gifts.
USA TODAY
Trump taps Chad Chronister, a county sheriff, to head Drug Enforcement Administration
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister will be a key player in Trump's effort to 'secure the Border, stop the flow of Fentanyl,' Trump says
AFP
Nations warn of 'obstruction' at plastic talks
Dozens of countries warned Sunday that a handful of nations were obstructing efforts in South Korea to reach an ambitious landmark global treaty to curb plastic pollution."If you would leave out many important countries that you want to have on board, then the effects of the treaty (are impacted)," he told AFP. Over 100 countries now support setting a target for production cuts, and dozens also back phasing out some chemicals and unnecessary plastic products.
AFP
Displaced Israelis fear returning home despite Lebanon truce
Despite the relative calm in the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona since a ceasefire took effect between Israel and Hezbollah, Rakhel Revach said she was not moving back just yet.- 'No education, no jobs' - Revach said returning to Kiryat Shmona would be difficult.
AFP
Glittering dreams: India's big push for solar power
Vast lines of solar panels reflect the blazing sun in India's western deserts, a dazzling ocean broken only by bristling wind turbines.The Khavda plant in Gujarat state consists of some 60 million solar panels and 770 wind turbines spread over 538 square kilometres (208 square miles) -- almost the size of the sprawling megacity Mumbai.
AFP
Trump announces loyalist Kash Patel as choice to lead FBI
US President-elect Donald Trump aims to make loyalist Kash Patel the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he said on Saturday, in a move that would mean replacing the agency's current leader.- Appointment of allies - Wray was tapped by Trump during his first term, replacing an acting director after Trump fired former FBI director James Comey.
AFP
The farm fires helping to fuel India's deadly air
Blazing flames light the sky as Indian farmer Ali Sher burns his fields to clear them for new crops, a common but illegal practice that is fuelling deadly pollution killing millions.- 'Land will become barren' - Some farmers are slowly shifting to better practices.
AFP
Philippine Eagle hatchling dies in conservation setback
A Philippine Eagle chick hatched via artificial insemination has died, an avian conservation foundation has announced, in a fresh setback for one of the world's largest and most critically endangered raptors."This heartbreaking loss is a solemn reminder of how delicate chick-rearing can be and how critically endangered species are particularly vulnerable," the Philippine Eagle Foundation said in an undated statement on its website.

D.J. Reader's return important in wake of Chidobe Awuzie injury

Latest Stories