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Cincinnati Bengals defensive star Carlos Dunlap was vocally not thrilled about his new role within the defense earlier this month.
After a Week 6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in which he didn’t appear to play much at all, Dunlap commented on a team Instagram post about safety Jessie Bates and dropped some hints he still isn’t happy.
Dunlap wrote the following:
Baller, he literally looked at me while I was on sideline {practicing ”social distancing” from the field}…. Said he was going to make the play to put us in position to win @jb3iii you did that bruh. . .
Obviously, the point in quotations is worth a raised eyebrow there, as is a later comment from Dunlap making light of the fact he’s a linebacker now, not a defensive end.
We’ll have to see what the official snap counts look like, but Dunlap has been seemingly demoted to a third-down role while this new-look defense spent Sunday featuring guys like Amani Bledsoe and Xavier Williams (who just signed as a free agent).
It’s weird to see a Bengals franchise great relegated to such a role, then making repeated public comments about it. What it means for the locker room — players and coaching staff included — is impossible to say.
This was the post in question:
