Ripple effect of Aidan Hutchinson's devastating injury has now negatively impacted the Bengals
It's been confirmed that Detroit Lions edge rusher and Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Aidan Hutchinston suffered a fractured tibia and fibula on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys and will miss significant time. To compensate for the loss, the Lions are signing edge defender Isaiah Thomas off the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad to their active […]
It's been confirmed that Detroit Lions edge rusher and Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Aidan Hutchinston suffered a fractured tibia and fibula on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys and will miss significant time.
To compensate for the loss, the Lions are signing edge defender Isaiah Thomas off the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad to their active roster.
Detroit adding Thomas is no coincidence. Hutchinson's injury is a crushing loss for one of the best teams in the league. Thomas himself won't make up for the 24-year old's on-field absence, but any depth can help.
The Bengals signed Thomas to their practice squad right after final cuts this year. He's a former seventh-round pick of the Cleveland Browns from the 2022 NFL Draft and played 10 games for Cincinnati's in-state rival as a rookie before spending all of last season on the team's practice squad.
This is the second time in three weeks a Bengals practice squad pass-rusher has been signed to an NFC team's active roster. The Cowboys poached edge defender KJ Henry from Cincinnati two weeks ago and signed him to a two-year deal.
Both Thomas and Henry were originally brought in due to the Bengals' lack of depth on the edge. Now that Sam Hubbard and Myles Murphy are both healthy, Cincinnati is in better shape to absorb both losses. Rookie sixth-round pick Cedric Johnson was even a healthy scratch last week.
That said, Thomas was one of Cincinnati's most talented practice squad players and he's now out the door. The Bengals now have 15 players on its practice squad entering Week 7, leaving one spot open for a new addition to be made.
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