Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie has made a point to help out his fellow secondary members in any way possible since suffering his season-ending injury.
That includes making sure he’s got the back of first-round rookie Dax Hill, who was called into emergency duty down the stretch and in the playoffs at times while Tre Flowers battled through injury.
Awuzie says he sees the parallels between his early career and what Hill’s going through now — and that he’ll be far, far better for it once he’s allowed to settle down into one position.
“I would say for Dax, it’s a matter of, now that you have all this knowledge, use it and try to take something from each position that you learned,” Awuzie said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “When hopefully you do hone in on one position, then you know who is around you, what their assignment is. You know what their alignment is. That can lend you to be a better player.”
Awuzie added: “When I first came into the league, it was the same way. I was playing dime, nickel, safety, corner. I took those knowledge points to, now I know what the corner is thinking. It allowed me to play a little bit more free. I would advise Dax that way.”
There’s no firm timeframe on Awuzie’s actual return date for the Bengals, though he’ll be the No. 1 corner again once healthy. He actually returned to the team and sidelines as much as he could after the injury to help out.
As for Hill, he’s been playing all over the secondary since college. If and when the team loses Jessie Bates in free agency, he’s projected to take over the starting safety role, potentially next to Vonn Bell (also scheduled to be a free agent).
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