Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
From the top rushers in the NFL facing off to Eddie Jackson’s past success, we’re previewing the Bears’ Week 2 matchup vs. Bengals.
The Chicago Bears will host the Cincinnati Bengals in their home opener, where Chicago will be looking for their first win of the season in Week 2.
The Bears and Bengals haven’t faced each other that often, playing just 11 times dating back to 1972. But this 12th matchup will go a long way in showing exactly what these two teams are made of following some surprising Week 1 outcomes.
Here are seven things to know ahead of the Bears’ Week 2 game against the Bengals:
See the inactives list for both the Vikings and Bengals.
The Vikings are slight favorites to win their opening regular season game.
That makes sense when you look at the matchup. The Bengals are coming off year where they went 4-11. While the Vikings weren’t perfect at 7-9 in 2020, the team did look better than Cincinnati did.
The two teams have something to prove to fans and analysts this year, and health will be a major factor for both. Here are the inactives for the Week 1 game:
The first injury report of the season is a good one.
[mm-video type=video id=01fdqmrqpmfr9p4ney6t playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fdqmrqpmfr9p4ney6t/01fdqmrqpmfr9p4ney6t-8a8adf58d143b3aaa149462d532f8411.jpg]
Good news — the Cincinnati Bengals only have one name on the first injury report of the season before the team plays the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1.
Bad news — it’s No. 1 corner Trae Waynes.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor had already ruled out Waynes for Week 1, so his name showing up on the injury report as a DNP wasn’t exactly a shock.
What was surprising was an otherwise blank sheet. Even rookie center Trey Hill didn’t show up on the report despite a hip injury he’s battling.
If the Bengals are lucky, they’ll stay this healthy for the rest of the week and hit the opener at relatively full strength. Waynes is a big loss against a Justin Jefferson-led passing attack, but the fewer names on the reports this year, the better.
[listicle id=46348]
Vikings fans will not get to see former Minnesota first-round pick Trae Waynes in Week 1.
Bengals CB Trae Waynes will not play this week vs. Minnesota, per Zac Taylor.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) September 6, 2021
The Vikings drafted CB Trae Waynes in the first round of 2015, hoping for a player who could develop into a shutdown corner in the future.
Despite showing plenty of promise, Waynes did not fully pan out in his time with Minnesota. Some of that can be contributed to injuries, while another part of it is on account of inconsistent play.
Waynes departed from the Vikings in the offseason of 2020, signing with the Bengals. Now that Cincinnati and Minnesota square off in Week 1 of 2021, Waynes won’t be available to play against his former team.
According to ESPN’s Ben Baby, Bengals coach Zac Taylor said that Waynes will not be available to play in Week 1. Waynes suffered a hamstring injury in an August practice, per Sports Illustrated’s James Rapien.
Will the Bengals have their No. 1 corner on the field?
[mm-video type=video id=01fdqmrqpmfr9p4ney6t playlist_id=01eqbw0bft20de1r4d player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fdqmrqpmfr9p4ney6t/01fdqmrqpmfr9p4ney6t-8a8adf58d143b3aaa149462d532f8411.jpg]
It’s still unknown whether the Cincinnati Bengals will have No. 1 corner Trae Waynes on the field for the season opener.
Waynes certainly won’t be on the field for Sunday’s preseason finale against the Miami Dolphins after suffering what appeared to be a leg injury in a recent training camp practice.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor followed up a few days later by saying it was still unclear as to whether Waynes would be available for the opener.
It’s the latest in a long line of struggles for Waynes since joining the Bengals last year in free agency on a three-year deal worth $42 million. Last year, he suffered a pec injury before training camp that knocked him out of last season and has had other nagging issues alongside this leg injury this summer.
The saga has been enough for Bengals fans to understandably curse the injury bug.
More importantly, it could mean Darius Phillips and other backups have to rotate in with Mike Hilton and Chidobe Awuzie against Miami in Week 1. It would also prevent the actual starting three from finally playing together.
We’ll see if Waynes makes it into practice during the week leading up to the opener. If he’s limited, it’s probably a sign this smaller-looking issue will mean more absences.
[listicle id=45277]
No. 1 CB Trae Waynes left the field with an injury.
[mm-video type=video id=01fdqmrqpmfr9p4ney6t playlist_id=01eqbw0bft20de1r4d player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fdqmrqpmfr9p4ney6t/01fdqmrqpmfr9p4ney6t-8a8adf58d143b3aaa149462d532f8411.jpg]
The injury bug may have bitten one of Cincinnati’s big-money cornerbacks yet again.
Trae Waynes left the practice field Wednesday as trainers were looking at and icing his right hamstring.
Waynes missed the entire 2020 season with a torn pectoral muscle after signing a three-year, $42 million contract during free agency in 2020.
The Bengals added a pair of corners during free agency in 2021: former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Hilton and former Dallas Cowboy Chidobe Awuzie. Hilton will likely work from the slot, but a healthy Waynes was working to fill the void left by William Jackson III, who left for Washington in the spring.
Waynes is set to count $15.8 million against the salary cap this year and is scheduled to make $10.4 million in 2022, though that is non-guaranteed.
Trae Waynes just came off the field during 11 on 11 was having a really hard time putting weight on his right leg. He tossed his helmet and was just standing on the side with a trainer. They just brought ice and put it on his hamstring.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) August 25, 2021
[listicle id=45207]
Some information on injuries during Cincinnati Bengals training camp.
[mm-video type=video id=01f60v7f5de31h3n41fq playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f60v7f5de31h3n41fq/01f60v7f5de31h3n41fq-165c918732918ecdd2b07545b4385657.jpg]
The Cincinnati Bengals already have some minor injury woes to worry about early on in training camp.
Right tackle Riley Reiff suffered an injury earlier this week during an interception return and backup Fred Johnson is out for an unknown amount of time.
But talking with reporters later in the week Zac Taylor confined that Reiff won’t be out long.
More interesting is the fate of two bigger-name defenders, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com: “Taylor doesn’t see any long-term issues with defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi and cornerback Trae Waynes after they’ve sat out the last couple of practices.”
Both are critical parts of the defense. Ogunjobi looks like the Geno Atkins replacement as the pressure-creator up the middle. Waynes is the big-money cornerback who missed all of last season with an injury.
While the Bengals can send extra blitzers or kick edge players inside to replace Ogunjobi’s impact, it won’t find a potential No. 1 corner elsewhere on the roster. That makes Waynes a big name to watch in the coming days and weeks, as he’s been a superb presence on the field when he’s been able to go.
[listicle id=44065]
There are a lot of storylines in this Week 1 matchup between the Vikings and Bengals.
The Vikings play the Bengals in Cincinnati to to open the 2021 season.
Normally, when you play a team that finished 4-11-1 the season before, that seems like an easy win.
The Bengals aren’t your average “bad’ team, though. They are absolutely loaded with young talent led by quarterback Joe Burrow, who was on pace for 4,300 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns before tearing his ACL in Week 10.
Burrow has some weapons offensively, too, with Joe Mixon at running back, and Tee Higgins and this year’s No. 5 pick Ja’Marr Chase at wide receiver.
It will also be a reunion of sorts for both sides. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was the defensive coordinator for the Bengals from 2008-2014. The Bengals have former Vikings first-round draft pick Trae Waynes on the team, while the Vikings have Mackensie Alexander, who is back with the Vikings have spending last season with the Bengals.
The Vikings are 2.5-point favorites in this game.
Minnesota is 7-6 all-time against Cincinnati with the last game coming in 2017 where the Vikings won 34-7 behind 114 receiving yards from Jerick McKinnon.
You can check out the Vikings’ full schedule here.
The Vikings will have their highest pick since 2015.
After beating the Lions in Week 17, the Vikings ended the 2020 season with a 7-9 record.
Because of that, the Vikings are set to draft 14th in the 2021 NFL Draft.
It’s the highest 1st-round pick the team has had since 2015 when the Vikings drafted Trae Waynes.
It will be the third team in team history the team will pick 14th overall. In 1986 the team drafted defensive end Gerald Robinson and in 1987 the team drafted running back D.J. Dozier.
Notable players drafted 14th overall throughout NFL history include Bob Lilly, Jim Kelly and Dave Robinson.
The Vikings have 14 overall picks in the 2021 NFL Draft, including two third-round picks and three fourth-round picks.
The Cincinnati Bengals won’t get CB Trae Waynes at all this season.
The Cincinnati Bengals spent big on cornerback Trae Waynes in free agency this past offseason.
He has yet to suit up this season — and won’t.
Earlier this week, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor confirmed Waynes won’t be activated to close the season. Meaning, the Bengals threw a three-year deal worth $42 million at him and won’t have anything to show for it.
Waynes was signed to be the starter opposite William Jackson, but that never materialized after the former Minnesota Vikings starter suffered an injury while training before camp opened. He needed surgery to fix the issue.
At this point, it wouldn’t make sense for the Bengals to activate Waynes even if he were ready. He’s a seasoned veteran and three games of work in a lost season wouldn’t amount to much.
Like most of the injured players right now — highlighted by Joe Mixon’s status in limbo — the Bengals hope to have a fully healthy Waynes ready to go next season.
[listicle id=39768]
