The Cincinnati Bengals offered one big surprise on the final injury report before the team takes on the Carolina Panthers in Week 9.
Buy Bengals TicketsThat surprise is the impending absence of starting cornerback Mike Hilton, who will miss the game due to a finger injury suffered last week.
Hilton sits next to some big names listed as out for the contest:
- CB Chidobe Awuzie
- CB Mike Hilton
- WR Ja’Marr Chase
- DT Josh Tupou
Two players also received the questionable tag:
- OT La’el Collins
- CB Tre Flowers
It’s a lot to overcome for a 4-4 team before the bye. That’s three starting corners who might not play, with Jalen Davis getting the start for Hilton and some form of Cam Taylor-Britt and Dax Hill — both rookies — helping on the boundary. Awuzie will move to IR soon.
And while Chase avoided injured reserve, everyone saw how the offense performed last week. Tupou is an underrated absence with DJ Reader still out, too.
Then there’s Collins, the struggling tackle who was sidelined this week with an illness.
To say the Bengals will limp into the bye is an understatement at this point, and at least doing so with a win isn’t going to be easy given the big injury report.
