Bengals in ‘wait and see’ mode on status of Hendrickson, Hill and Rankins for Ravens game

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

CINCINNATI — Trey Hendrickson on Monday afternoon was not wearing the sling on his arm he was spotted using after Sunday’s win at Carolina, but Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor said there was no update on the neck stinger he suffered in the fourth quarter.

The Bengals are in “wait and see” mode with Hendrickson, as well as defensive tackles B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins, who are recovering from hamstring injuries.

“We’ll just see where the week takes us there, it’s less than 24 hours after the game so hard to say,” Taylor said. “With B.J. and Sheldon, again, we will get into the week and see how they feel Wednesday-Thursday. As I’ve kind of said, I think B.J. is a little further along than Sheldon is, so again we will see where the week takes us.”

Meanwhile, Taylor said the 21-day practice window should be activated this week for defensive end Myles Murphy and rookie defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson to return from injured reserve. Both suffered knee injuries during training camp. The team needs to see how they progress in practices before making any decisions about any potential moves to the active roster.

Punter Brad Robbins returned to the active roster from the Reserve/Injured list on Monday, but Ryan Rekhow seems to have locked down the job while leading the league in net punt average (49.7 yards per punt) and gross punt average (58.4). Robbins has been on injured reserve with a quadriceps injury since Aug. 27.

“There are some roster moves we’ll have to make this week, and that is part of it,” Taylor said when asked if there’s a plan for Robbins.

Cincinnati could use as many bodies available as possible this week as the Bengals set to host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in their AFC North opener.

Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is expecting a bounce-back game for cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, who has been the team’s No. 1 cornerback since last season but played just 51 percent of the snaps Sunday. Dax Hill, on the opposite side, played 94 percent, and DJ Turner played 73 percent while Taylor-Britt was sent to a rotational role for the remainder of the game after giving up a few explosive plays.

“Well, I think just the nature of how the game was playing out and feel like anybody had settled in,” Anarumo said. “I thought Dax played a solid game; when we brought in DJ, I thought he played a solid game. Cam was a little bit erratic yesterday. So, you know, if you’re not playing well, we’re gonna put somebody else in.”

Taylor-Britt went straight from a team meeting Monday to the training room and was not available to media before the open locker room period closed.

Anarumo said the issue was a little bit of “technique stuff” with Taylor-Britt.

“Cam (will) bounce back,” Anarumo said. “I have all the faith in Cam. He gave me a big hug right after the game and (said) that’ll never happen again. And I do trust him. He’s played too much good football here for us in order for that. But again, where we’re at, we can’t allow anything to slip. So, he’s one of the guys that were counting on to play well. He’s demonstrated that he can, and he has to do it consistently. So, he was just a little bit erratic yesterday, and he knows it. So, you know, I’ll say it again, I have all the faith in the world that Cam can bounce back and have a good game this week.”

SUNDAY’S GAME

Ravens at Bengals, 1 p.m., CBS, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7

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