CINCINNATI -- Battered and bruised by a spate of injuries, the Cincinnati Bengals once again were forced to turn to their youngest players Sunday afternoon.
Backups like rookies Darqueze Dennard and Marquis Flowers, and second-year player Jayson DiManche, got the most playing time of their careers because players listed ahead of them on the depth chart either weren't healthy coming into the 27-0 shutout or were banged up in it.
Starters like linebackers Rey Maualuga and Emmanuel Lamur didn't play this week after suffering serious ailments in last week's 37-37 tie with Carolina. Pro Bowler A.J. Green didn't play for a second straight week as he deals with a toe injury he's had all year. During Sunday's loss to the Colts, Vontaze Burfict and Leon Hall were lost with a pair of first-half injuries, forcing players like DiManche and Flowers to help absorb their losses, while also retaining their roles on special teams.
In addition to the nearly 50 defensive plays DiManche and Flowers were part of, for example, both also had 23 special-teams snaps, giving their bodies the most strenuous in-game workouts they have had since joining the NFL. To keep Rey fresh, the Bengals cleared his special-teams duties, keeping him out there for just six of those plays.
As much of those tweaks were made to help, they didn't do enough to make anyone forget about the absences of the starters.
More than any other game the Bengals have had this year, this game showed the glaring holes left when a team of this caliber takes this of volume of injury-induced hits.
With Maualuga potentially out for a couple more weeks, and Green's toe injury one that ought to linger all season, and Burfict's health and head injuries being an apparent yearlong concern, the Bengals could end up using some of these reserves regularly this season. So if they are going to see any semblance of the success they had hoped to have when the year began, they must find a way to fully ingratiate these young players into their schemes and make the drop-off from starter to bench dramatically more minimal than it has been.
Because if you think these reserve snap counts are high, there could be more on the way later this year.
Here, with help from Pro Football Focus and the NFL's Game Statistics and Information System, are this week's play counts:
OFFENSE (59 plays)*
OG Clint Boling (59), C Russell Bodine (59), OT Andrew Whitworth (59), OG Kevin Zeitler (59), OT Andre Smith (59), QB Andy Dalton (59), WR Mohamed Sanu (55), TE Jermaine Gresham (52), WR Dane Sanzenbacher (51), WR Brandon Tate (41), RB Giovani Bernard (41), RB Jeremy Hill (19), WR James Wright (15), H-back Ryan Hewitt (13), WR Greg Little (7), RB Cedric Peerman (1).
DEFENSE (82 plays)*
LB Vincent Rey (82), S Reggie Nelson (82), S George Iloka (81), CB Terence Newman (74), CB Adam Jones (67), DT Domata Peko (66), DT Geno Atkins (57), DE Carlos Dunlap (56), DE Wallace Gilberry (54), LB Jayson DiManche (46), LB Marquis Flowers (46), DE Robert Geathers (39), CB Leon Hall (33), DT Devon Still (31), LB Vontaze Burfict (27), DE Margus Hunt (26), CB Darqueze Dennard (18), S Taylor Mays (9), CB Dre Kirkpatrick (8).
SPECIAL TEAMS (29 plays)**
S Shawn Williams (28), Peerman (23), Flowers (23), DiManche (23), Mays (23), Hewitt (19), Wright (17), Dennard (17), TE Kevin Brock (17), LB Nico Johnson (16), Kirkpatrick (15), RB Rex Burkhead (12), P Kevin Huber (11), LS Clark Harris (11), Hunt (10), Jones (8), Nelson (6), Rey (6), Peko (6), Dunlap (6), Tate (5), Newman (5), Still (5), Hall (3), Iloka (1), Atkins (1), Gilberry (1), K Mike Nugent (1).
*Counts come from PFF.
*Counts come from NFL's GSIS.