The Cincinnati Bengals have listed star defensive end Trey Hendrickson (hip) as questionable for Thursday night's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers . He did not participate in practice all week, but a questionable status is an encouraging sign that the All-Pro will suit up.
If Hendrickson is unable to play come Thursday, it will certainly be a big blow to Cincinnati 's defense, which has already been one of the worst units in the league, allowing the second-most total yards per game (394.2) and third-most points per game (30.5).
Hendrickson has proven to be one of the defense's few bright spots, posting back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons in 2023 and 2024, and he looked like he was picking up right where he left off with four sacks, three tackles for loss, eight QB hits and one forced fumble through the first six games this season.
Hendrickson wasn't the only Bengals player who went down on Sunday, either. Starting tight end Mike Gesicki also left the game with a pectoral injury . He'll be out for Thursday night's game. Both of Cincinnati's starting guards are hurt, and of course, the absence of star quarterback Joe Burrow continues to loom over the team.
The Steelers are heavy favorites over the Bengals . However, short weeks have proven to be difficult to play on for Pittsburgh , especially on the road against division opponents .
While the Steelers are very familiar with the Bengals, so are the Bengals with the Steelers, and neither side is taking this matchup lightly.
"It's a divisional game, but also, just the rankings we got going on, the standings where we at right now. We know the Steelers are going to try to come in and raw-dog us and kill us," Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase said . "But we going to be ready for that challenge and we gonna be waiting for it."
Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson celebrates in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 4, 2025 — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Steelers left tackle Broderick Jones had an impressive performance against Cleveland Browns All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett in Sunday's 23-9 win. If he will have another massive challenge on Thursday night with Hendrickson, if the All-Pro is active.
"This is the NFL, man. It never gets easy. You got good players every week," Jones said. "You just got to continue to prepare the right way. We're going to Cincinnati, an away game. We're going to their home turf. I know they are going to be fired up. It's a rivalry game. So we just got to be on it."
Hendrickson had 3.5 sacks in the Bengals' Week 17 win over the Steelers last year. All of those sacks came on Dan Moore Jr. , however.
"I never really went against Trey like that. I had a couple plays against him, but not enough," Jones said. "The right and left is different. Now that I'm on the left side, we shall see on Thursday.
Jones knows he'll have his hands full with Hendrickson.
"He's just a relentless player. He never stops," Jones said. "He has a motor about him. He has a deep bag of tools, man. So you just got to be on your A game when it comes to playing him because you can't sleep, he'll catch you."
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Bengals Leave Door Open for Star Edge Rusher to Play vs. Steelers
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