Former Tiger on playoff doubters: ‘It’s disrespectful’

One of the storylines going into Saturday’s AFC divisional playoff game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans was the Bengals’ ability to slow down the top-seeded Titans’ running game, specifically the one many consider to be the best back in the NFL.

D.J. Reader and the rest of the Bengals’ defense held the Titans to 140 rushing yards in Cincinnati’s 19-16 win at Nissan Stadium. Tennessee still averaged 5 yards per carry, but the Bengals held Titans All-Pro running back Derrick Henry to just 62 yards on 20 carries in his first game since October.

Henry missed nine games this season after suffering a foot injury in Week 8. Still, some doubted whether the Bengals would be able to slow down the NFL’s rushing champion from a season ago.

Asked afterward if that kind of talk leading up to the game mattered to the Bengals’ defense, Reader didn’t hold back.

“It’s personal. It matters to you every time,” said Reader, a defensive tackle at Clemson from 2012-15. “You’re human. Man, woman, anything, you want somebody to doubt you and your ability to do your job? As a journalist, you want somebody to doubt you and your ability to do your job? No. It’s disrespectful.

“You’ve got to go out there, get it and take it. You’ve got to earn respect, though. We get it. So we’re going to keep chopping at the wood like we’ve been doing.”

Reader and the Bengals will face the winner of Sunday’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills in next weekend’s AFC Championship Game.

I asked Bengals DT DJ Reader if the team saw the chatter that they would struggle to stop Derrick Henry. It did

Reader: “You want somebody to doubt you? Your ability to do your job?”

Here’s the clip of the best responses I’ve ever heard in a press conference. (via @bengals) pic.twitter.com/OmP9BAlqRy

— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) January 23, 2022