Bengals All-Pro DT Geno Atkins Underwent Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
CINCINNATI — The Bengals placed defensive tackle Geno Atkins on injured reserve Wednesday morning.
The 32-year-old suffered a labrum tear in his right shoulder during Cincinnati's final scrimmage during training camp.
He missed four games with the injury, but returned to action in Week 5 against Baltimore.
Atkins underwent surgery to repair the damage in his shoulder this week. He signed a waiver to play this season, despite dealing with an injury that likely required surgery league sources told AllBengals insider Elise Jesse.
He was only on the field for 119 defensive snaps this year, which was a career-low. Atkins appeared in eight games, finishing with one tackle. He was on the field for just seven plays in Sunday's loss to the Cowboys.
The Bengals drafted Atkins in the fourth-round (120th overall) in the 2010 NFL Draft. He's appeared in 161 career games (134 starts), and is third in team history with 75.5 sacks.
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Atkins in an eight-time Pro Bowler and a two-time All-Pro. He signed a four-year, $65.2 million contract extension with Cincinnati in 2018. He has two years left on his deal.
The organization has a decision to make about one of the best players in franchise history.
The Bengals would free up $9.6 million in cap space if they parted ways with Atkins this offseason.
“He’s a Pro Bowler, he’s an All-Pro, the guy’s a yellow jacket, we know that. He’s a Hall-of Famer. He will be there,” Mike Daniels told AllBengals when asked about Atkins. “He’s a person who I share a lot of views with. We have a lot of similar interests. He’s a big anime nerd like myself and that definitely helps out the chemistry as well. I really enjoy having him as a teammate and I’ve gotten so much better this year just from being able to be around him.”
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