Bengals confirm one lineup shift, and leave another wide open with their defense ahead of Week 4 matchup against Jaguars
There will be shuffling done in the Cincinnati Bengals secondary this week. Cornerback Dax Hill will be moving inside to nickelback, and his replacement hasn’t quite been decided yet.
There will be shuffling done in the Cincinnati Bengals secondary this week.
Defensive coordinator Al Golden confirmed Wednesday afternoon the Dax Hill will move from cornerback to nickelback for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The move for Hill comes after starter. Starting NB Jalen Davis was placed on the Reserve/Injured list Tuesday afternoon, causing all the needed change. Hill’s backup in the slot will be Josh Newton.
The CB spot Hill leaves behind, for now, is between two players, but the starter for Sunday’s game doesn’t seem to be known at this moment in time.
Tacario Davis, DJ Ivey vying for starting role in Week 4
Cincinnati’s options to replace Hill are rookie third-round pick Tacario Davis, and fourth-year backup DJ Ivey. Davis notably played 27 snaps last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers after he was moved inside mid-game, but it doesn’t sound like he has the starting gig locked down for this week.
“Second half (at Pittsburgh), I thought he was much better in that game,” Golden said of Davis. “Stop the clutch, use his speed.”
Ivey is listed as the starter on the team’s official deaf chart, but that isn’t always 100% accurate.
“I think he’s gotten better every single year,” Coach Zac Taylor said of Ivey. “So [I] had a lot of confidence in him in training camp. He’s getting opportunities in these games, and so I do have a lot of confidence in DJ Ivey.”
Practice may be determining factor
It was last month when both Davis and Ivey were taking starting reps during Bengals training camp when Hill was out with a hamstring injury. Ivey got the initial looks, and Davis appeared to leapfrog him toward the end of camp. Davis was the one who got the first chance when depth was called upon in an actual game. He’s also been penalized in each of Cincy’s three games this year.
Had Davis played cleaner football in his first chances, perhaps this wouldn’t be an up-in-the-air battle. The Bengals may want to take the next three days of practice to figure out which of the two is their best option against the Jags.
