Bryan

Cook

Cook (ankle), Dugger (quad), Bozeman (groin), Young (knee), and Hill (Achilles) are all injury inactives for the Bengals. An improved defense will be without a pair of safeties and depth in the front seven will be tested against the Jaguars.

It’s the first step towards fixing Cincinnati’s defense in free agency. Cook will pair with Jordan Battle to be the safety pairing for the Bengals in 2026. Cook is coming off a career year in 2025, with an 83.2 PFF coverage grade that was well above what he’d done in his first three seasons. He’ll look to continue rolling as he enters his age-27 season under new defensive coordinator Al Golden.

Bolton’s 21-day return window was opened 10 days ago, and now the Chiefs’ starting linebacker is ready to make his return. Bolton landed on injured reserve after suffering a wrist injury in the team’s Week 7 win over the Chargers and had missed three games earlier in the season due to an ankle injury. Through four games, Bolton has totaled 15 tackles and one interception. He’ll be ready to go for Week 14 against the Bills in a pivotal AFC matchup. In a corresponding move, the Chiefs placed safety Bryan Cook on injured reserve.

Smith is one of four Chiefs players ruled out for Week 14, as Isiah Pacheco (shoulder), LB Drue Tranquill (concussion), and S Bryan Cook (ankle) have also been ruled out for the contest. This will be Smith’s first missed game of the season, as the veteran has sported a mostly clean bill of health in his first season with the team. Wanya Morris is listed behind Smith on the depth chart and will presumably draw the start in Smith’s absence.

Cook got his leg trapped underneath a body on a tackle attempt in the third quarter Sunday. He would remain down after the gruesome injury before being carted to the locker room for further evaluation.

An unheralded, 165-pound recruit who started at Howard University, Cook (6’1/206) made the most of his starting opportunity in 2021 by earning first-team All-AAC accolades thanks to his 96 tackles, five TFLs, 11 PBUs, and two interceptions. Following an astounding transformation, Cook has established himself as an enforcer in the middle of the field. One of the more well-rounded safeties in this class, he also earned the ninth-highest PFF cover grade in the country last year (87.4) while being asked to cover at all three levels. Unfortunately, a left-shoulder injury kept him from participating in pre-draft testing. A complete strong safety with uncommon coverage skills for a thumper, Cook has the potential to be a core defensive player at the NFL level.