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Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterNov 4, 2024, 04:09 PM ET
- Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
CINCINNATI — Bengals running back Zack Moss will be out indefinitely with a neck injury, coach Zac Taylor said Monday.
Moss did not play in the team’s 41-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday after the issue popped up a couple of days earlier. Taylor said the team became aware Thursday night of a potential neck injury that forced Moss’ absence for the team’s final practice heading into the weekend contest against the Raiders.
Taylor did not have a timeline for his return.
“Hopefully more information this week,” Taylor said.
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This past offseason, Moss signed a two-year deal worth $8 million. Once the move was in place, the Bengals made the decision to jettison longtime starting running back Joe Mixon, who was eventually traded to the Houston Texans.
Moss has split backfield duties with second-year player Chase Brown. In eight games with the Bengals, Moss has 74 carries for 242 yards and two touchdowns. He also has 23 receptions for 187 receiving yards and a touchdown.
With Moss out, Brown received the bulk of the carries against the Raiders. The 2023 fifth-round pick out of Illinois set career highs in carries (27) and rushing yards (120) and totaled 157 yards from scrimmage and a receiving touchdown in the win.
Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said that Brown has displayed a playmaking ability in his extended usage this season and has previously shown the ability to be a high-volume running back during his time with the Illini. After lamenting an ineffective run game in previous weeks, Pitcher praised Brown’s performance against Las Vegas.
“I thought Chase made the most of those opportunities by getting yards after contact,” Pitcher told reporters Monday. “So, when you’ve got a guy that’s playing well like that, you want to feed him the football.”
Brown suffered a bruised rib in the win over the Raiders, Taylor said. However, the injury shouldn’t have a significant impact on his status ahead of Thursday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. Aside from Brown, the Bengals have two healthy running backs on the roster — veteran Trayveon Williams and rookie Kendall Milton, who was signed to the active roster from the practice squad ahead of the Raiders game.
When asked whether the team is considering adding a running back, Taylor said the team has “to be open to everything.”
“[We’re] going through the process of seeing what’s available, seeing where we can help ourselves in all areas, and we’ll go from there,” Taylor said.
In other injury news, Cincinnati lost tight end Erick All Jr. for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee. It’s the same injury he had last October that ended his college career at Iowa. All played in the first nine games of the regular season and had been a key contributor for Cincinnati’s offense. The all-purpose tight end had 20 receptions for 158 receiving yards and also had been an integral part of the team’s running game.
“People see the role he’s playing for us,” Taylor said. “He has a lot of responsibilities in our system. It hurts.”
