Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt stirred up some speculation after his team’s win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 14.
Buy Bengals TicketsPratt wrote the following brief message on Twitter: “Need to play 3rd down too much money left on the table.”
It’s a little understandable if fans took this one to heart a bit — Pratt is arguably the team’s most improved player in the middle of a career year. He’s also on the final year of his deal before hitting free agency next offseason when the team has to worry about possible deals for guys like Jessie Bates.
Even so, it’s always hard to read into deep meanings behind a one-liner. Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo isn’t, as captured by Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic:
Since there’s been some question about Germaine Pratt wanting to play third downs and his tweet from last night, I asked Lou Anarumo about those conversations with Pratt and why he doesn’t play third downs.
If looking for an issue, you won’t find one with Pratt’s DC. pic.twitter.com/Gn6YpAzgdZ
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) December 12, 2022
Pratt actually played more third downs than usual during the win over the Browns, so he’s potentially actually celebrating that fact. He’s usually in on roughly 30 percent of the third downs.
Schematically, the Bengals aren’t often going to play Pratt on third downs much more than that, especially when they want to drop eight guys into coverage. Even Logan Wilson isn’t immune to coming off the field when the coaches want extra defensive backs.
Will that impact Pratt’s free agency? Probably not — if a team wants him as a three-down player they will pay him like one. If the Bengals and Pratt want to re-up, his current usage probably isn’t going to impact the talks all that much.
And again, Pratt could be talking about anything, like a simple chance to help his defense make more plays. He wants on the field and that’s a hard thing to find fault with.
