Bengals near full strength for Thursday
The Bengals are finally back together, looking to dig out of their worst start in five years when they host the Dolphins on Thursday night.
Linebacker Vontaze Burfict is finished with his NFL suspension, looking to put his emphatic imprint on Cincinnati’s struggling defense.
Tight end Tyler Eifert is close to full strength after recovering from ankle surgery, eager to become the top passing option near the goal line again.
The Bengals are finally back together, looking to dig out of their worst start in five years when they host the Dolphins on Thursday night.
The Bengals (1-2) have been out of sync on both offense and defense. They failed to make any gameturning plays in the fourth quarter of back-to-back losses against the Steelers and the Broncos. With Burfict back and Eifert close to form, they’ve got two of their top playmakers available again.
“I just do my job, take control of my defense, just be a leader out there,” Burfict said. “I do what I can.”
The Dolphins (1-2) are simply trying to hold it together. They got their first victory on Sunday in overtime when Cleveland missed a field goal at the end of regulation.
There wasn’t much time to celebrate because of the quick turnaround and a mess on offense.
Tight end Jordan Cameron suffered his fourth concussion and has been ruled out for Thursday night. Left tackle Branden Albert and center Anthony Steen have sprained ankles.
Right tackle Ja’Wuan James was pulled from the game against Cleveland after allowing a late sack. Pro Bowl center Mike Pouncey has missed the first three games while recovering from a hip injury.
“We’ll see where it goes,” coach Adam Gase said. “We’ve got a couple of moving pieces, obviously, with our injury situation.”
It’s a game that neither team can afford to lose.
“Being 1-2, in my opinion, we need to definitely finish the quarter (of the season) at 2-2 and go from there, or else we put ourselves in a very tough bind for the rest of the season,” Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said.
Some things to watch on Thursday night:
HOW MUCH FOR BURFICT?
It’s likely that Burfict will play most of the game on Thursday even though he missed the preseason and the first three games. Last season, Burfict was recovering from knee surgery and missed the first six games. In his return in Pittsburgh, he made solo tackles on the first two plays and was on the field for nearly half of the defense’s plays.
“We’ll just see how it’s going,” defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said. “That’s kind of what happened in Pittsburgh last year. I said, ‘Every series, just tell me how you’re feeling and we’ll go from there.”’