The Cincinnati Bengals had a decent plan coming into the 2020 season.
It went something like this: Pay up big for elite nosetackle D.J. Reader, pair him with interior disruptor Geno Atkins and have new highly paid cornerback Trae Waynes start on the outside.
But Reader made it into just five games before going down with a season-ending injury and a summer shoulder injury to Atkins limited his snaps before he went to injured reserve this week.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor commented on what could’ve been, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:
“They were playing at a very high level in training camp. It was exciting to watch that interior defensive line go. (Nose tackle Renell) Wren was a part of that as well early on when we had those first couple practices. How quickly that changed once we had those three injuries. But (Atkins) was playing at a high level in training camp.”
There was always risk to the plan. Taylor and his coaches planned for an even bigger uptick in usage for Reader compared to what he had done in Houston. They also planned for a reduced role for Atkins in the hopes of making him more effective.
But the injury bug had its say — and Waynes hasn’t and won’t play a snap all season after suffering an injury over the summer, too.
The game of “what if?” won’t save Taylor’s job if Bengals management wants to move on from a guy with a 4-24-1 record over two seasons. but it is important to add this sort of context to his tenure — luck just hasn’t smiled on the plans to overturn the roster and improve.
