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The Cincinnati Bengals 2022 season hasn't started off the way it was expected to. They finally bounced back in Week 3 against the New York Jets to get their first win of the season after two rough losses to kick things off. But it looks like they may have suffered a different type of loss in this game, as it sounds like defensive tackle DJ Reader will be forced to miss some time with a serious knee injury.
DJ Reader injury update
After a strong start to the season, Reader picked up a knee injury against the Jets and was forced out of the game early. The hope was that Cincinnati was just being cautious since they were playing the Jets, but it doesn't look like that's the case. Reports have begun to filter out that Reader will miss a significant chunk of time with this injury, although it isn't considered to be a season-ending injury.
Significant Bengals news: The initial tests reveal that DJ Reader, who suffered a knee injury against NYJ, will not be back anytime soon. It is not expected to be a season-ender, but the Bengals will be without their star nose tackle for an extended period of time, per source.
— Kelsey Conway (@KelseyLConway) September 27, 2022
The silver lining in this situation is that Reader could end up returning at some point this season. Reader has quickly become one of the Bengals top run defenders, while also finding time to pressure the quarterback on occasion too. Considering how the Bengals have had a fairly slow start to the season, losing Reader is less than ideal.
B.J. Hill will be asked to step up in Reader's absence, with Josh Tupou and Zachary Carter expected to pick up the snaps available in Reader's absence. The Bengals will be hoping Reader can return sooner rather than later, but the initial prognosis doesn't appear to be good, and Cincy may want to plan on being without him for the next couple of months.
