Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson likely out for season with knee injury

Wilson was dealing with soreness after the Nov. 17 game against the L.A. Chargers but thought coming out of the bye week after that he would feel better. The knee was still hurting after the break, and another week of rest and sitting out of Sunday’s loss to Pittsburgh still didn’t solve the problem, so he had it surgically cleaned out Wednesday. He is likely done for the year.

With the Bengals unlikely to make the playoffs at this point, the long-term could be the bigger concern but Taylor said both McPherson’s and Wilson’s injuries needed addressed.

“There’s not really much of a decision to be made there once you get the information, what they need to do, so really, that’s all there is to it,” Taylor said.

Wilson was quietly having a strong year on a bad defense, particularly showing well against the run, where he earned a 90.0 grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking him fourth among linebackers. His absence was sorely felt Sunday against the Steelers, but Akeem Davis-Gaithers and Joe Bachie will get more snaps going forward and the Bengals signed Shaka Heyward off the practice squad to fill the roster spot.

McPherson was feeling sore during the game Sunday but thought he just needed to try to keep it warm and plow through. However, Taylor said Monday morning it turned out to be more significant. The Bengals placed him on injured reserve Tuesday and signed former Browns and Commanders kicker Cody York to the practice squad.

York missed his only two field goal attempts this season in Washington’s opening loss to Tampa Bay but stood out among a group that worked out for the Bengals on Tuesday.

“He did a good job,” Taylor said. “Powerful. Did a good job, so we signed him up.”

Taylor said left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. is doubtful for Monday’s game at Dallas at this point but hasn’t ruled him out completely.

Brown, who was Cincinnati’s nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for impact beyond the game, originally injured his lower leg in the Week 7 game against Cleveland and re-aggravated it the next week against Philadelphia. He missed three games before returning to action Sunday, and now it’s possible the Bengals will need to shut him down for the season, but Taylor said they will see how this week goes.

Cincinnati had just moved Cody Ford from temporary left tackle to replace left guard Cordell Volson by coaches’ decision. Ford would likely go back to left tackle if Brown can’t go.

“With Orlando last week, he got back into full practice, felt good about it and then obviously, we get toward the end of the game and it was really bothering him, limiting him,” Brown said. “He tried to give us everything he could. Now we’ll just go back to this week and see where it ends up.”

The Bengals on Tuesday waived wide receiver Trenton Irwin to make room for Heyward in light of Wilson’s injury. Irwin, who originally began on the practice squad in Taylor’s first season in 2019, played in seven games with two starts for the Bengals this season.

Irwin had been a substantial contributor off the bench in 2022 and 2023 when the Bengals weren’t getting much production beyond their “Big Three” receivers of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and now-departed Tyler Boyd; however, he had just three catches in his seven appearances this season.

Taylor said it was a hard conversion parting ways with Irwin.

“That guy had been here every year that I’ve been here, six years, and man, is about all the right stuff,” Taylor said. “Everything that we want from our guys in the locker room. I mean, basically lived in this facility for six years. There’d be times where there would be nobody here except for Trenton, in the weight room or doing his receiver stuff on the turf. I’d come back here in the summer and he’d be out there on the field by himself.

“Just a guy that got every ounce out of his body and helped this team make a lot of plays in his time here. Really proud of him for him to have been a Bengal and associated with us and certainly wish him the best. That’s one of the harder conversations that you’ll ever have with a player. A guy who’s meant that much to you and everybody on the staff, everybody on the building.”