Joe Burrow speaks at press conference after returning to practice
Joe Burrow speaks at press conference after returning to practice on Monday November 10, 2025.
The Cincinnati Bengals are likely to be without defensive ends Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart on Nov. 16.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said both players are doubtful to play in Pittsburgh. Hendrickson is dealing with a hip/pelvis injury that’s forced him to miss two games already and Stewart injured his knee against the Chicago Bears in Week 9 ahead of the Bengals’ bye week.
Not having Hendrickson and Stewart would make it even tougher for the Bengals against the Steelers. Hendrickson is the Bengals’ best player on defense and Stewart needs as much playing time as he can get as he continues to work through rookie growing pains.
Cincinnati Bengals playoff chances
The Bengals are 3-6 and the path to saving the season starts with beating the Steelers. If Cincinnati loses to Pittsburgh this week, chances at a playoff run with Joe Burrow at the helm will highly unlikely.
Right now, the Steelers lead the AFC North with a record of 5-4. The Baltimore Ravens are closing in at 4-5. Cincinnati is hanging around and if the Bengals beat the Steelers and go on a run that includes sweeping Baltimore, they could win the division. Losing to the Steelers would essentially end the conversation about the playoffs in Cincinnati.
The Bengals will rely on Joseph Ossai, Myles Murphy, Cedric Johnson and Cam Sample to get pressure on Steelers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Ossai and Murphy have combined for 4.5 of the Bengals’ 13 total sacks. Johnson and Sample have yet to register a sack.
“We’ve got a group of guys that have been working in there that continue to go,” Taylor said of who needs to step up in place of Hendrickson and Stewart.
Johnson, Cincinnati’s sixth-round pick out of Ole Miss in 2024, is slowly making his return to the field. He was active and played in the Bengals’ Nov. 2 loss to the Bears. Prior to that, he spent eight games on injured reserve after suffering a calf injury in the preseason.
“I’m really excited, being on IR (injured reserve) the whole time, finally being able to get back out there and showcase my ability and what I can do for the team,” Johnson said on Nov.12.
In seven games down the stretch in 2024, Johnson recorded one sack in Cincinnati’s Week 17 win over the Denver Broncos.
Cincinnati Bengals sacks on defense
The Bengals need all of the help they can get rushing the passer. Cincinnati’s biggest weakness from last season remains an Achilles heel again this year. In the Bengals’ Oct. 23 win over the Steelers, they didn’t record one sack on Rodgers and logged just two quarterback hits – neither coming from a defensive end.
With Hendrickson and Stewart out, others will need to step up. Rodgers is playing in his 21st NFL season and has seen it all. The easiest way to disrupt the Steelers’ offense is to affect Rodgers in the pocket with pressure.
If the Bengals can’t do that, they could be in for a long day in Pittsburgh.
Cincinnati’s front office drafted Murphy in the first round for a reason in 2023 and his production hasn’t matched the investment the team made in him. He’ll get plenty of opportunities against the Steelers to make an impact if Hendrickson and Stewart are out of the lineup.
There’s no better time for Murphy, Ossai, Johnson and Sample to prove their worth than right now with the season on the line.
“Right now you look at it, (we’re) 2-0 in the division, we have a chance to go 3-0 and that would be a huge step in the right direction of putting us back in with the teams that are at the top two of our division,” Taylor said.