The Cincinnati Bengals will have their top pass-rusher on the field chasing Ryan Tannehill during their divisional matchup with the Tennessee Titans. On Thursday, head coach Zac Taylor announced that defensive end Trey Hendrickson has cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol and will play on Saturday afternoon as Cincinnati tries to advance to the AFC Championship Game.
Hendrickson suffered a concussion in the midst of last week’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Super Wild Card Weekend, which did leave his status for this upcoming round a bit uncertain. That said, Hendrickson was trending in a positive direction to begin the week as he was a limited participant in practice on Tuesday before practicing fully on Wednesday. Those were early indications that he would eventually get over this latest hurdle and be cleared to play.
Having the likes of Hendricks in the fold for this matchup cannot be overstated. In 16 games played this season (14 starts), the 27-year-old totaled a career-high 14 sacks to go along with 34 tackles, 27 quarterback hits, and three forced fumbles. Even just playing in 43% of the defensive snaps last week against the Raiders due to injury, Hendrickson was able to record a sack.
On top of Hendrickson, Taylor noted that nose tackle Josh Tupou and receiver Stanley Morgan are trending toward being able to play this weekend.
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