Zac Taylor Updates Trey Hendrickson, Shemar Stewart's Injuries During Bengals Short Week

Cincinnati is super thin at edge rusher.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) watches a replay as the Detroit Lions celebrate a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 5 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Detroit Lions at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. The Bengals continued a losing streak, falling 37-24 to the Lions. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — The Bengals have a pair of big impact injuries to watch out for this week ahead of a Thursday night matchup against Pittsburgh. Shemar Stewart (ankle) and Trey Hendrickson (back contusion) are very much needed for this struggling defense.

Zac Taylor addressed both players' statuses on Monday, starting with Hendrickson, who has a murky outlook this week and is day-to-day as of this writing. Things look promising for Stewart to appear in his first game action since Week 2.

"Shemar is progressing back," Taylor said about the rookie. "We don't do a lot of full speed work this week, but I'm optimistic. Yeah, We'll just continue to make decisions on that. But from a physical standpoint, he's looked good."

Outside of that, Cincinnati is also working through a tight end injury to Mike Gesicki (pectoral), which knocked him out of Sunday's 27-18 loss to the Packers. Taylor noted he will be out for this game and likely longer.

"He'll be out for this game for sure. Getting more information now. He's got a pec and it's going to be a while. We'll just see what that means," Taylor said about Gesicki.

A few big names on the mend, and only two more days to get them healthy enough to play. Thursday's game kicks off at 8:15 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime

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