Trade Deadline: Bengals Quickly Fill Running Back Void
The Cincinnati Bengals quickly filled the void at running back caused by Zack Moss' neck injury with a trade deadline deal.
The Cincinnati Bengals filled a big hole that had just opened up on their roster right before the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday, as the Bengals made a dead to land running back Khalil Herbert from the Chicago Bears, just days after learning that starting running back Zack Moss will miss significant time.
Moss, who came over the Bengals from the Indianapolis Colts as a free agent this offseason, will miss the rest of the season with a neck injury, head coach Zac Taylor said on Tuesday. Moss missed last week’s Bengals win over the Las Vegas Raiders, and is not expected to return this season.
“Still gathering more information but it doesn’t look like he’ll back,” Taylor said.
Moss played in the first eight games of the season for the Bengals, starting six. He ran 74 times for 242 yards and two touchdown for a 3.3 yards per carry average. Moss also caught 23 passes for 187 yards and one score.
Moss had been splitting time with second-year Illinois product Chase Brown in the early going. Brown made his third start of the year on Sunday, and he responded with the bigger opportunity with a huge day. Brown rushed 27 times for a career-high 120 yards against the Raiders.
While Brown will replace Moss on a down-to-down basis, the Bengals were left short on depth on Sunday. That’s where Herbert comes in. A former Bears sixth-round pick, Herbert had seen his playing time dwindle with a new coaching staff and offense in Chicago this season.
But he is coming of a 611-yard, two-touchdown season a year ago, and Herbert has always been a quality pass-catcher. He caught 20 balls for 134 yards and a touchdown last season in Chicago.
“I’m glad that we went out and tried to get better,” Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said Tuesday. “So, I think, and I’ve watched Khalil in the past, I think he’ll be able to help us.”
The Bengals sent a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Bears in exchange for Herbert. The trade deadline acquisition is the first one Cincinnati has made since 2020.
The first game between the Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers is coming up in four weeks on Dec. 1 at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. The Bengals will come to Pittsburgh to close the 2024 NFL regular season schedule in Week 18 on either Jan. 4 or 5, 2025.
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