B.J.

Hill

Hill has proven himself as a difference-making interior pass rusher, whose early-season absence allowed opponents to bully the Bengals’ front seven. Among 62 NFL interior defenders with at least 140 pass-rushing snaps, Hill ranks 19th in pass-rush win rate (11.5 percent). Hopefully, both Hill and DE Trey Hendrickson (neck) can suit up on Sunday.

Brown did not practice to begin the week after head coach Zac Taylor called him day-to-day on Monday. He participated in the Monday walkthrough, but is officially a non-participant for Wednesday after missing the last two games for the Bengals. LB Joe Bachie (hip), DT B.J. Hill (knee), and WR Charlie Jones (groin) were also non-participants on the Bengals’ Wednesday practice report.

Brown is now set to miss his second-straight game of the season. He’ll be replaced by Cody Ford, who played on 74 snaps in Week 9 against the Raiders, allowing zero sacks on just four pressures. Ford will have his work cut out for him against a physical Ravens defense. While Brown is out, defensive tackle B.J. Hill is expected to be active for Thursday’s contest.

A neck stinger forced Hendrickson from play in Week 4 but he was able to fully participate in Friday’s practice this week. The Bengals are also expected to return DT B.J. Hill, who missed Weeks 3 and 4 with a hamstring strain.

Co-interior starter B.J. Hill (hamstring) is listed as doubtful. Both players were sidelined for Week 3 as well. The news signals comfortable maneuvering behind the offensive line for Andy Dalton and Chuba Hubbard in Week 4.

Hill was unable to practice in any capacity throughout the week, ultimately drawing the doubtful tag from head coach Zac Taylor. Hill played a massive 80% of the team’s defensive snaps in Week 1 before suffering the hamstring injury in Week 2, representing a massive blow to the front end of the Bengals’ defense.

The Bengals’ pushover run defense is now dealing with a pair of injuries on their interior defensive line. Both Hill and Sheldon Rankins (hamstring) have failed to practice thus far this week. The Commanders will likely attempt to impose their will on the ground if both players are inactive.

With Joe Burrow on his rookie deal and coming off a Super Bowl appearance, the Bengals are going for it again. They’ve been very active in the opening hours of free agency, signing LG Ted Karras and RG Alex Cappa while keeping Hill in the fold. Hill gets $15 million guaranteed. He was acquired from the lowly Giants last August after New York gave up on the former No. 69 overall pick, and Hill answered with a career year on 47% of the snaps. Hill registered 5.5 sacks as a member of the interior rotation.

The compensation strongly suggests Price was not going to make the Bengals’ 53-man roster. The No. 21 overall pick of the 2018 draft lost his starting center job for good last season. Price played a ton of guard at Ohio State, so he will offer versatile interior depth for a line that is one of the league’s worst. The question is if Price will be a part of the solution or just another problem. His Bengals tenure was obviously not promising.

Hill (6’3/311) manned nose tackle on a star-studded Wolfpack defensive line that also included Bradley Chubb, Kentavius Street, and Justin Jones. More block eater than playmaker with only nine career sacks, Hill earned honorable mention All-ACC as a senior and shredded the Combine with a sub-five-second forty (4.99) and quick 7.28 three-cone time. Hill is long on potential but short on production and rarely flashed pass-rush ability on college tape. Hill may max out as a two-down banger against the run.