Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor declared starting left guard Dylan Fairchild good to go for Sunday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Fairchild suffered a pectoral injury late in Sunday’s 34-17 win against the Atlanta Falcons in Madrid, and he was a limited participant in Wednesday evening’s walk-through practice. But Fairchild was a full participant Thursday and Friday.
The only player ruled out on the injury report is safety Kyle Dugger, who has missed four of the last five games with a quadricep injury.
Asked if Dugger, a former Steeler, is a candidate to land on Injured Reserve, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said he was not, indicating the safety could be close to returning to action.
Three Bengals, who are currently on IR, had their 21-day practice window opened Thursday, but the team is listing all three as doubtful for Sunday night’s battle for first place in the AFC North Division.
Bengals WR Andrei Iosivas Appears To Be At Least 1 Week Away
Cornerback Jalen Davis, wide receiver Andrei Iosivas and rookie guard Brian Parker II were all listed as full participants Thursday and Friday.
Parker, the team’s fifth-round pick out of Duke, has been on IR since Aug. 30 with a knee injury.
Iosivas has been on IR since Sept. 26 with a thumb injury. He had three catches for 19 yards before suffering the injury in Week 2 at Houston.
Talking after practice Thursday, he sounded encouraged about his chances of playing Sunday.
Davis went on IR on Sept. 30 with a hamstring injury suffered in the first meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3.
The Bengals currently only have 52 players on the active roster, so they have room to pull one of those three off IR without making a corresponding move. But the “doubtful” designations make that seem unlikely.
Look for Josh “Fig” Newton to get the second start of his career if Davis isn’t activated.
Newton has played sparingly in his three seasons before getting a full snap load Sunday in Madrid. Defensive coordinator Al Golden said Newton’s performance had both ups and downs.
“(Cornerbacks coach Chuck Burks) did a great job with him just bringing him along to the point where, OK, he’s ready to do it. Let’s see what it looks like,” Golden said. “And then Fig did the rest.
“Fig has great energy. Smart player. And he’s vocal. He’s a good communicator,” Golden said. “I thought he played really hard. There are some plays I know that he would like to have back, but overall, he really, really responded well.”
Not only are the Bengals coming off a trip overseas, but the Steelers are also coming off their bye.
Since the international series began, there have been five instances where a team returning from an overseas game played a team coming off a bye.
The teams coming off the bye are 5-0.
“I don’t know what the stats are. I just know they’re not great. I honestly can’t even give you a ballpark of what they are,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “I just think common sense would tell you it’s probably a little challenging. But I think we have a great mindset right now.”
Golden praised Taylor for the way he has handled the long trip to Spain and quick turnaround, along with all the other ways he has schedule practice and recovery throughout the offseason and training camp.
“I think Zac is on the front end, if not pioneering in terms of how to take care of the players during the season,” Golden said. “How do you respond as a player, or as in our case, the defensive unit or by position, at the end of the day.
“If he’s taking care of us physically, we better be on the game plan,” Golden added. “The walkthrough’s got to be great. Overcommunicate. Whatever you have to do to establish that you know exactly what you need to do.”
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