It looks like the Cincinnati Bengals won’t be suiting up some of their star players for the preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Our friends over at Bengals Wire have the scoop on the players that have already been ruled out for Saturday’s preseason game at Arrowhead Stadium. These are the players that Bengals new head coach Zac Taylor says won’t be available for the game:
- DE Carl Lawson
- DT Geno Atkins
- TE Tyler Eifert
- RB Joe Mixon
- RB Giovani Bernard
- WR John Ross
- RB Rodney Anderson
- WR AJ Green
First you’ll notice that two of their top defenders that get after the QB won’t be playing. That could be encouraging news for Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, who is set to start this game and play up to a quarter. It also means that there will be some young players in there trying to make a name for themselves, so he’ll have to be careful.
The next thing you’ll notice is that there’s a lot of offensive firepower ruled out. Three RBs and their top TE won’t play in this one. Speedy WR John Ross is day-to-day with an injury and Rodney Anderson was recently activated from the NFI list. Expect sixth-round draft pick out of Texas A&M, Trayveon Williams, to be their lead back with two of their best RBs already ruled out.
It’s fairly common for teams to rest their stars during the preseason. Many decision makers find it difficult to put their best players in harms way for a meaningless game, and the new Bengals staff has been notoriously cautious since AJ Green suffered an injury that will knock him out for multiple weeks. The Chiefs on the other hand have a system where they ramp up play for their starters and ease them back into contact football against a true opponent. It’s just what works in Kansas City, and I wouldn’t expect to see many starters sit for the Chiefs.
We’ll update you with the complete list of inactives ahead of Saturday’s game.
