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The Bengals are hoping they haven't lost $42 million man Trae Waynes for two months with a pectoral injury, although that's what initial reports are saying even as it's also being reported he's getting a second opinion.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor had nothing to say about the injury during Tuesday's Zoom media call, except that they've got a heck of a lot more depth at cornerback this August than they did last August. Guys like Tony McRae and B.W. Webb even a first-rounder in Darqueze Dennard played tough and gritty last season. Gamers. But they're also no longer here.

It's believed that Waynes had been working out since he arrived with the veterans two weeks ago and suffered the injury during a routine lift in the Bengals' weight room. But it's not routine what it does to the Bengals' plans, which began with a three-year, $42 million contract back in March that installed Waynes at one starting corner.

Now all eyes turn to a first-year assistant, cornerbacks coach Steve Jackson, because it looks like he'll have to get somebody else ready for the opener to play opposite William Jackson III. They were hoping they wouldn't need the depth so soon, but it looks like they picked a good offseason to beef up the corner.

Not only did they pay Waynes, but they stayed on the market to secure four other veterans, starting with Waynes' former Vikings teammate, Mackensie Alexander, a slot guy known as one of the NFL's best tacklers.

Two of them, the 5-10, 192-pound Alexander and Tennessee's LeShaun Sims, have each played more than 50 games while combining for five in the playoffs. Tony Brown, 6-0, 198 pounds, played his first two years in the league with the Packers during the previous two seasons and one of them ended in the playoffs. Last year, Winston Rose led the Canadian Football League with nine interceptions while winning the Grey Cup.

None of these guys are Waynes, a first-round pick. But throw in Darius Phillips, a third-year player who led the Bengals last season with four interceptions in just 108 snaps, and if any position group could weather such a storm and find somebody for the opener, this may be it.

Jackson, with 25 years in the league as a player and coach, has seen it all. On his last snap in the league he saw his Titans lose the Super Bowl by about 18 inches on the last play. Two years before that in downtown Cincinnati he was on that Tennessee defense victimized by Bengals running back Corey Dillon smashing the NFL's 40-year-old rookie single-game rushing record.

So, no, nobody has this job on Aug. 11, a week before pads and ten days before a scrimmage.

"You can't rule anybody out," Jackson said. "Good group. The best thing about it is these guys we brought in here are from winning teams and they're spreading that around to their teammates."

So that means you can't rule out Alexander maybe playing outside with maybe the 5-10, 190-pound Phillips in the slot. But both Jackson and Taylor sounded like they didn't want to move what they consider to be a very good slot player.

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August 12, 2020 at 07:11AM
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