Tag: Darius Phillips

Raiders releasing veteran CB Darius Phillips

CB Darius Phillips first big surprise cut of Raiders cutdown day

It’s final cutdown day and the first surprise cut by the Raiders has come down. They are releasing veteran cornerback Darius Phillips according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The former Bengals fifth round pick was added this offseason and was seen as initially as solid depth with the possibility of competing for a starting job.

Phillips spent the first four years of his career in Cincinnati, appearing in 47 games with 10 starts. He had five interceptions and 23 pass breakups in his career.

Ultimately, he was passed up by Anthony Averett, while it appears Trayvon Mullen will return to his starting duties along with Nate Hobbs and Rock Ya-Sin. Phillips was also competing for kick return duties.

Others vying for a spot on the roster at cornerback include former fourth round pick Amik Robertson and undrafted rookie Sam Webb.

All final cuts become official at 1pm Pacific (4pm ET).

Who is Derion Kendrick’s NFL comparison?

Georgia defensive back Derion Kendrick won a pair of national titles in his college football career at UGA and Clemson

Georgia defensive back Derion Kendrick won a pair of national titles during his college football career. Now, he is poised to move up to the next level.

Kendrick faced elite competition throughout his college career. He won some battles and lost others. He projects as a Day 2 NFL draft selection.

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein compares Derion Kendrick to Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Darius Phillips. Who is Darius Phillips?

Phillips has played four seasons in the NFL with the Bengals. He was a fifth-round selection in the 2018 NFL draft. He played college football at Western Michigan.

It would be surprising to see Kendrick fall beyond the third or fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft. Kendrick was seldom beat during his final season in college. The main concern would be off-the-field issues, which were the reason he transferred from Clemson. To Kendrick’s credit, he stayed out of trouble during his time at the University of Georgia.

Phillips has played in 47 career NFL games, including 10 starts. He has forced eight turnovers and has 73 career tackles.

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Darius Phillips (23) catches a pass during warmups prior to a game. Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

Kendrick has the potential to have a more successful career than Phillips. Kendrick came up huge in the College Football Playoff against Michigan. Kendrick had seven interceptions in his final three seasons of college football and is almost always contesting a catch.

Here’s how Lance Zierlein describes Kendrick’s fit at the NFL level:

Cornerback with four years of playoff experience and two national titles under his belt. Kendrick has played against some of the best wideouts in the game but has a history of struggling in some of those matchups. He lacks speed and strength to stay outside but his quickness and route recognition should help him move inside as a nickel. He’s athletic and capable underneath with excellent ball skills but can be exploited by long speed and needs safety help in those matchups. He’s unreliable as a tackler, but concerns over character and maturity appear to be a bigger issue for him. Talent and those concerns need to be weighed, but Kendrick has CB3/CB4 potential in the right scheme.

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Bengals make roster moves with Darius Phillips, others

Some notable roster moves for the Bengals.

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The Cincinnati Bengals made a handful of roster moves on Tuesday as the team begins prep for its Week 15 clash with the Denver Broncos.

First up, the team moved cornerback and special teams returner Darius Phillips to injured reserve.

Phillips, who muffed two punts during last Sunday’s loss to the 49ers, which let the visiting team earn 10 points, was already on his way to being removed from punt-return duties.

The team says Phillips moves to IR with a shoulder injury.

In a corresponding move, the Bengals signed rookie punter Drue Chrisman to the practice squad. He’s a rookie out of Ohio State who was college free agent with the team over the summer.

Fans can expect further moves in the coming days, likely with guys like Trae Waynes from IR and call-ups to get competition at punt returner going.

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Bengals expected to remove Darius Phillips from punt returns

Expect the Bengals to make a change on punt returns.

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From the sounds of it, injuries prevented the Cincinnati Bengals from putting somebody else besides Darius Phillips back on punt returns during the team’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Phillips proceeded to muff two punts, costing the team 10 points in an eventual 26-23 overtime loss.

According to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com, Phillips wasn’t necessarily in the plans at all, but injuries elsewhere prevented them from calling up somebody else:

“Taylor and special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons haven’t made up their minds yet and don’t have to until Wednesday’s practice. The only reason Phillips did it Sunday is because injuries to linebackers Logan Wilson and Markus Bailey forced practice squad elevations of two backers and they couldn’t go get anybody else.

Granted, that’s easy to say in hindsight. If the Bengals had felt that strongly about it during the week they could have made additional moves.

Either way, the team tried to get Stanley Morgan back on returns mid-game, only for him to fumble, too. Eventually, the staff settled on putting slot starter Tyler Boyd back there.

Of course, the game-altering damage was already done by that point. Pooka Williams Jr., Trenton Irwin and Trent Taylor are all options to take over the job, which will get sorted out in practice this week.

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Darius Phillips says cryptic tweets aren’t about Bengals, teammates

Bengals CB clarifies social media comments.

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In today’s lesson of don’t take social media too seriously, we have Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Darius Phillips.

Phillips posted a cryptic tweet ahead of his team’s Week 2 game against the Chicago Bears, which some onlookers ran with as his commenting on what might be going on behind the scenes at Paul Brown Stadium.

Reading that much into a player’s vague tweets is never a good idea though and Phillips quickly pushed back, both in the replies and in different comments.

It’s not the first time Phillips has made some interesting-looking comments over the course of the past year though. And fans are especially looking his way right now after fellow cornerback Eli Apple struggled so much in the opener while playing for Trae Waynes. Thanks to his massive upside, fans want to see Phillips get the nod as a starter and not just on punt returns.

Of course, it probably doesn’t help that Carlos Dunlap had a very messy, public breakup with the Bengals last year that is fresh on the minds of fans.

But DP made sure to point out that’s now what is going on here:

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Bengals high on Darius Phillips as he takes on punt returns

Bengals coaches sound like they expect a big year from Darius Phillips.

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The Cincinnati Bengals continue to have huge expectations for cornerback Darius Phillips.

A comment from Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons, captured by Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic, says it all: “I feel better about him right now than I have at any point he’s been here.”

Coaches have praised Phillips for taking on the punt-returner competition and from the sounds of it, he’s won the competition, fending off names like Trent Taylor.

While Phillips doesn’t project to play a massive role in the base defense (but he’s a superb backup), he’s proven to be a deadly returner when available. But a combination of other viable names and his own availability — he’s missed 13 games since entering the league in 2018 — have limited his chances.

But if Phillips’ body can hold up, it sounds like all of the other factors are out of the way and he’s the guy on punt returns.

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Darius Phillips is back to boost Bengals return game

Darius Phillips is back and could suit up for the Bengals this weekend.

Darius Phillips is back.

The Cincinnati Bengals activated Phillips a few weeks ago and we wrote at the time he could boost what seems to be an elite return game.

After getting his legs back under him in practice, Phillips will suit up this weekend when the Bengals take on the New York Jets.

According to ESPN’s Ben Baby, Bengals coaches noted Phillips will come off the bench and could see some usage on punt returns.

As we noted when the team designated Phillips to return in the first place, his dangerous skill set boosts a punt-return game already complemented well by the elite emergence of Brandon Wilson on kick returns.

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Darius Phillips on way back to join elite-looking Bengals return game

Darius Phillips will soon join Brandon Wilson on returns.

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The Cincinnati Bengals announced cornerback Darius Phillips has been cleared to practice.

This makes the star returner and cornerback the second to return from the Reserve/Injured list this year and starts a 21-day period where he can practice with the team before counting against the active roster. He’s eligible to join the roster next week.

Call it a case of the rich get richer.

Special teams is seemingly the only place the Bengals are rich this year. Brandon Wilson has been a breakout stud on kickoff returns, taking 14 for 490 yards (35.0 average) and a score so far.

The Bengals really appear to have something there with Wilson. But Phillips is just as promising — don’t forget he had a kickoff return for a score after coaches put him in for Alex Erickson, only for a flag to negate it.

Phillips is important to the base defense too, of course. He’s got starter upside, which will be important to see in live action this year with Darqueze Dennard headed to free agency again.

But Phillips adds some more sheer entertainment value to Bengals games alongside an electric breakout like Wilson. His return could help the team win some games too.

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