Hill tore his ACL during the first quarter of the Bengals’ overtime loss to Baltimore, and he will be out for the remainder of the season, Bengals coach Zac Taylor confirmed Monday. The injury occurred when he planted and cut back to try to stay with his matchup on a third-down pass play broken up by Cam Taylor-Britt.
The Bengals’ defense has struggled this season, but Hill was settling into the No. 2 cornerback spot opposite of Taylor-Britt and probably the more consistent of the two outside guys. Over the last two games Hill had allowed just three receptions on eight targets and one missed tackle.
“Heartbroken for him,” Taylor said. “You know, we’ve moved him around, played him in a lot of different spots. All he’s ever done is put his head down and worked and taken whatever coaching and tried to make the most of every opportunity and was showing a tremendous amount of growth at that corner spot, played nickel for us yesterday. Just, you hate it for him. I know he’ll bounce back from it.
“I think his brother (Ravens running back Justice Hill) has been through similar injuries before ... so I know he’s got a good support system. But just hate it for him because of what he’s showing on the field and just the way he carries himself and the way he’d gone about his business. Awful for him.”
Hill was a first-round draft pick in 2022 but played behind Jessie Bates as a rookie and was used in different roles until he took over as the starting free safety last year after Bates left in free agency. Hill started all 17 games but struggled, and the Bengals signed Geno Stone to take over that spot this year.
During the offseason workout program, the Bengals asked Hill to switch to outside cornerback, a position he only played a handful of snaps at in college, playing for the University of Michigan. He was competing with former Wolverines cornerback DJ Turner and ended up winning the job in training camp.
“I don’t know anyone that’s done it in the NFL,” Turner said of how Hill managed the position change. “It’s not done. So, he’s done something that basically I don’t know that’s been done and did it well, so definitely hate to see that happen.”
The Bengals will have a decision to make by May as to whether they want to pick up his fifth-year option. Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said he thinks Hill is a long-term solution at outside cornerback.
Hill had even slid over to the slot corner role Sunday with Mike Hilton out, and Anarumo thought he did well there, too.
Turner now permanently steps into Hill’s role on the outside, one he filled with 12 starts last year as a rookie second-round draft pick, initially playing more while Chidobe Awuzie was coming back from an ACL tear but gradually earning more opportunities.
“We’ve just got to (move forward), gotta keep going,” Turner said Monday. “I said the whole time we are going to need everybody, so we’re going to need everybody and we’ve just got to keep going.”
“As a secondary we’ve got to keep going,” Turner added. “We’ve got the Giants coming up, so they don’t care.”
The Bengals defense has been hit hard by injuries early this season, particularly on the defensive line.
Four of five defensive linemen on the active roster that were dealing with injuries last week played Sunday, including defensive end Myles Murphy and rookie defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson, who had been on injured reserve with knee injuries. B.J. Hill also returned from a hamstring injury that sidelined him two games, and he played 72 percent of the defensive snaps, while Trey Hendrickson didn’t end up missing any time with a neck stinger suffered in the win at Carolina last week.
Hill’s injury is just the latest hit, as Cincinnati tries to find its way on defense. The Bengals have given up the second-most points in the league, allowing 29.0 points per game and surrendering 365.4 yards per game (26th), while Joe Burrow and the offense have ranked among the best in the league during a 1-4 start.
Cincinnati next travels to play the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football.
“We’re going to come together as one, and it’s fixable,” Turner said. “It’s all stuff that’s happened, has been given up, we look at film and know it’s fixable. We never look at something and say, ‘I don’t know what we can do there.’ So, we’re always going to look at it and it’s fixable.”
About the Author