Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor made it clear on Thursday that the team won’t activate running back Joe Mixon from injured reserve ahead of the Monday night showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaking with the media as the team starts prepping for Monday, Taylor kept it short and sweet on Mixon, according to ESPN’s Ben Baby: “Check back next week.”
We’ve already examined whether Mixon will return at all this season. Thursday’s news from Taylor seems one step closer to confirming the team just isn’t going to risk its highly paid back in meaningless games.
Granted, the Bengals would probably love to have Mixon on the field sparking the offense considering Brandon Allen is dealing with an injury — so much so the team hosted another quarterback on a tryout.
On paper, there wasn’t anything stopping the Bengals from activating Mixon from IR if he’s healthy because there are only three weeks left in the season. Not doing so indicates they’re still waiting to see if he can get healthy enough or merely shutting him down and trying to hit next season at full strength.
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