REPORT: Cincinnati Bengals Lose Offensive Weapon In Practice- Week 8

The Cincinnati Bengals lost an offensive weapon in practice on Thursday. Running back Chase Brown suffered a hamstring injury during practice according to head coach Zac Taylor. Brown was the Bengals fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft. This news was reported by Bengals ESPN insider Ben Baby via Twitter.

The rookie running back has had just four appearances this season and has only amounted to six yards rushing on two carries. He has also gone for three receptions this season for seven yards. The team will continue to rely heavily on starter Joe Mixon in their game this week against the San Francisco 49ers. This will also mean that Trayveon Williams and Chris Evans will continue to play their roles as the backup running backs behind Mixon.

The Bengals have the second-worst rushing attack in the league this year with just 69.8 rushing yards per game. The only team worse than them in this statistic is the Las Vegas Raiders who average 68.6 yards per game. The starter Mixon has gone for 366 total yards on the ground this season and has only averaged 3.8 yards per carry.

The Bengals are currently sitting at a 3-3 record seven weeks through the season and are in last place in the AFC North division. They have not gotten off to the start that everyone expected them to this year, but seem to be getting back to their usual form. They will have a tough schedule coming up as their next two games include the 49ers and the Buffalo Bills.

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Death, taxes, slow starts, and Cincinnati standing pat at the Trade Deadline. Is this about the Bengals or Reds? The shoe sure does fit both franchises of late but there are legitimate reasons why an inactive Bengals trade deadline is in the near future.

Starting 3-3, thanks to a pair of solid wins, the Bengals are coming off their bye with a tough test ahead of them. The San Francisco 49ers have one of the best rosters in the NFL and it does not get much easier after that. Due to the fact that the Super Bowl window is ideally wide open during the Joe Burrow era, it only makes sense that many would be anxious about this year.

No matter how many, “Go get Hayden Hurst back” or clever jersey swap edits on social media, Cincinnati is not likely to take advantage of this year’s trade deadline. Fans can be disappointed all they want. As Nick Saban put it, “It’s not happening, so quit askin’!”

The issue with how the Bengals operate is how the fans expect the team to break norms. Unfortunately, it’s just not how the Bengals roll.

Since 2000, the Cincinnati Bengals have made a grand total of 23 trades. That breaks down as follows:

October 18, 2011: Carson Palmer was traded to the Raiders for a 2012 first (Dre Kirkpatrick) and a 2013 second (Giovani Bernard).

October 28, 2020: Carlos Dunlap was traded to the Seattle Seahawks for B.J. Finney and a 2021 seventh (Wyatt Huber).

Neither trade was as a “buyer,” so to speak. It was all about offloading frustrated veteran players. The Bengals just don’t make in-season trades and they certainly don’t trade FOR players in season.

Now, the Joe Burrow effect may make the Bengals change their course. However, don’t be surprised if the clock strikes 4:00 p.m. EDT on October 31st and the Bengals don’t show up on the NFL transaction page.

The world is not broken up into two groups of people. Not every team is as stingy as the Bengals but not every team is as liberal with their picks as the Los Angeles Rams. There is a price for every player and it’s not going to come out in the Bengals’ favor, more than likely.

Let’s take Hayden Hurst as an example. The Bengals do desperately need tight end help. If Irv Smith, Jr. is the ONLY pass-catching threat at tight end, you’re already handicapping yourself. Expectations were that Smith could at least come close to Hurst’s production and he’s nowhere close. Are injuries to blame? Or, is he just not a very good tight end? Either way, that aspect of the offense is sorely missing.

Last year, Hurst was a great security blanket for Burrow when/if he could not distribute to Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins. Hurst embodied everything the Bengals want in a tight end. He’s gritty, moderately athletic, and can find the soft spots in the zone. Trading for Hurst seems like a no-brainer, right?

The Bengals did not seriously pursue Hurst in free agency, according to Malik Wright (The Wright Report) and James Rapien (All Bengals, Locked on Bengals). They likely wanted him back but for cheap. Do you honestly expect them to pony up the cash they didn’t want to spend back in March AND send Carolina draft capital?