The Bengals have hit another roadblock after starting the season 0-6 with the most recent loss being a 17-23 defeat at the hands of the AFC North division rival Baltimore Ravens.
As Ian Rapoport reported Monday, Dre Kirkpatrick is looking at missing a month after hyperextending his knee in Baltimore.
Dre was carted off the field later returned with a knee brace. Kirkpatrick will be seeing a doctor but has already been declared out for the next couple of games.
This is yet another blow to the Bengals secondary as former 1st round corner Darqueze Dennard has yet to appear this season. Kirkpatrick has 33 combined tackles and a sack on the season. The Bengals’ defense has struggled to keep players on the field this season with Darqueze Dennard, Carlos Dunlap, Darius Phillips, Carl Lawson, and now Dre Kirkpatrick missing games. Jessie Bates, B.W. Webb and Shawn Williams have been playing through minor injuries as well the past few weeks.
With Dre Kirkpatrick missing time, it could take away any trade value he possibly had. At 0-6 the Bengals could have been interesting in moving the veteran corner for a draft pick. But now that looks unlikely.
It has yet to be determined if Cincinnati Bengals will be making any big moves at the trade deadline. Zac Taylor said earlier this week that they will not be trading star wide receiver A.J. Green, and now with Kirkpatrick’s injury, the Bengals’ are low on trade pieces. There is no word yet on Tyler Eifert after the Patriots and Saints showed interest but it appears an A.J. Green-Tyler Eifert package deal is off the table. With possibly no trades in the making, the Bengals could be relying on a strong draft and a solid free agency this offseason to turn things around next year.
