Cincinnati Bengals safety Jordan Battle continues to be a point of contention for fans who want to see more of the second-year player in the base defense.
But right now, Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is more reliant on veteran Vonn Bell, though the rotation continues to evolve as the season progresses.
“There’s a lot of reasons (Bell) is a team captain and that’s one of them, you know? I think he sees the benefit in it for the team and giving Jordan some opportunities,” Anarumo said, according to ESPN’s Ben Baby.
Bell played 66 snaps to Battle’s 14 last week, which was more than fans had seen of the latter all season, so the rotation is indeed evolving.
That said, none of this is shocking. The Bengals brought back Bell in the widespread changes to fix the communication issues that hurt the defense last season.
As recently as August, Battle himself was openly talking about being a second-string player and special-teamer, so he’s embraced the role, too. In October, Anarumo added that Battle had a slow start in training camp.
The defense, before the win over the New York Giants, obviously wasn’t good enough. With the line getting healthier and making the lives of the players behind it easier and Battle getting into the rotation, though, the arrow could keep pointing up, at least.
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