The NFL announced the 2020 Pro Bowl rosters, and for the first time since 2010 a Cincinnati Bengals player wasn’t on the list.
Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard said he thought safety Jessie Bates and wide receiver Tyler Boyd deserve that recognition and more.
“I definitely feel like some of our guys should (be) deserving to be there,” Hubbard said. "Especially Jessie (Bates) and Tyler Boyd. But the Pro Bowl, it is what it is. I think those guys are playing at a Pro Bowl, All-Pro level and deserve some recognition, but that’s how it is.”
Bates had a particularly strong case. This season, the Bengals safety has 97 tackles, 15 passes defended and three interceptions. Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor agreed that Bates should have received a Pro Bowl nod.
“I think he's very deserving,” Taylor said. “I'm glad we have him on our team. I wouldn't take anybody over him. Obviously the vote is what the vote is. Some guys really take issue with that, but the bottom line for us is Jessie has been a tremendous, tremendous player, leader on the practice field, on the game field.”
Starting quarterback is to be determined
Even though Ryan Finley led the Bengals to a win on Monday night, Taylor didn’t name a starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against Houston.
Finley made his first start of the season against the Steelers, replacing an injured Brandon Allen. Allen left Cincinnati’s Week 14 game against the Dallas Cowboys with a knee injury. Allen didn’t practice heading into the game against Pittsburgh, but he improved to being limited in practice on Wednesday.
“We’ll just see where his health is,” Taylor said. “We’ve got a couple days here to figure that out and we’ll make that decision.”
Finley earned the first win of his NFL career against the Steelers. He completed seven of his 13 pass attempts for 89 yards. But his most valuable contributions came in the run game.
Pittsburgh struggled defending Finley’s read option with running back Giovani Bernard, and Finley had a career-high 47 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
“The more experience you get on the field, the better you're going to be,” Taylor said. “I just thought he played a very great game the other night and gave us a great chance to win.”
Tyler Boyd enters concussion protocol
Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd’s head collided with the turf on Monday against the Steelers after he leapt for a contested catch. After the trainers helped him off the field, he went into the locker room and didn’t return.
Now Boyd is in concussion protocol.
“We’ll take it day to day with him and see if he gets through it this week,” Taylor said.
Boyd leads the Bengals with 840 receiving yards, averaging 60 yards per game. He hasn’t missed a game since 2018.
Joe Mixon is out another week
Taylor ruled out Joe Mixon for this week’s game against the Texans, but he didn’t eliminate the possibility of Mixon playing in Week 17.
“We'll see about next week,” Taylor said.
Mixon hasn’t played since Oct. 18, missing the last eight games with a foot injury. Mixon had 1,137 rushing yards with the Bengals last season and signed a contract extension during training camp.
This season. Mixon has played in only six games and rushed for 428 yards. Because of coronavirus protocols, Taylor said Mixon hasn’t been able to interact much with the rest of the team.
“It’s just complicated now when you can't be in the locker room,” Taylor said. “It's just different this year than most years where when you've got a guy who knows he's not gonna play that week, you want to keep them (distanced).”
Injury report
On a short week, the Bengals had a longer injury report Wednesday.
New additions included linebacker Jordan Evans missing practice with a hamstring injury and cornerback Darius Phillips missing practice with a knee injury.
After missing the game against the Steelers, linebacker Logan Wilson again didn't practice on Wednesday with an ankle injury.
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