{"id":130754,"date":"2025-06-15T02:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T02:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/130754\/"},"modified":"2025-06-15T02:12:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T02:12:11","slug":"bengals-db-dax-hill-aiming-for-training-camp-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/130754\/","title":{"rendered":"Bengals DB Dax Hill Aiming For Training Camp Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

An ACL tear ended\u00a0Dax Hill<\/a>\u2018s season in 2024. The fourth-year defensive back has made progress in his rehab, though, and a clear target is in place for a return to the field. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hill was sidelined through OTAs and this week\u2019s minicamp while continuing to recover. If all goes according to plan, however, he will receive clearance in time for training camp. The Bengals\u2019 camp will begin on July 23, and being available for at least some of it will be key as he prepares to return to action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hopeful in the next couple of weeks,\u201d\u00a0Hill said when asked about the point at which he hopes to be receive the green light (via Sports Illustrated\u2019s Jay Morrison<\/a>).\u00a0\u201cThis break is five weeks, so probably right before, hopefully. I\u2019ve been preparing myself to be cleared and trying to show them that I can actually be cleared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill played sparsely on defense as a rookie before logging a 100% snap share the following season. The Michigan product did so as a safety in 2023, but last offseason he transitioned to outside cornerback<\/a>. That move came to an abrupt end in October when Hill become one of several members of Cincinnati\u2019s secondary to go down through injury. Improvements against the pass will be key in 2025, and Hill should have a notable role in that effort.<\/p>\n

When speaking to the media, the 24-year-old added he is unsure at this point where he will line up when healthy. Hill was classified as a corner<\/a> when his fifth-year option was picked up, an indication he may retain CB duties upon being cleared. Cincinnati re-signed Marco Wilson<\/a>\u00a0this spring while retaining Geno Stone<\/a> on a restructured deal.\u00a0Mike Hilton<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Vonn Bell<\/a>\u00a0are unsigned, though, meaning vacancies at the cornerback and safety spots exist compared to last season.<\/p>\n

The Bengals did not use any of their six draft picks on defensive backs this year, so Hill should handle a notable workload at one position or another in 2025. After recording 110 tackles and 11 pass breakups during his campaign spent as a safety starter, returning to that role under new defensive coordinator Al Golden\u00a0could give the Bengals a productive defender. On the other hand, a long-term spell at corner could be deemed more valuable to the team. Hill will remain in place for at least the next two seasons, so plenty of time remains for a permanent position to be established in this case.<\/p>\n

A immediate return to full team drills would come as a surprise, as Hill acknowledged in his remarks. Still, a ramp-up process during training camp would mark a welcomed development for team and player and a return to action in line with his timeline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An ACL tear ended\u00a0Dax Hill\u2018s season in 2024. The fourth-year defensive back has made progress in his rehab,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,2296,8098,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-130754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-bengals","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","11":"tag-cincinnatibengals","12":"tag-dax-hill","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114684962259066421","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}