Bengals DC Al Golden Disappointed For, Not In, Shemar Stewart

Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden voiced his disappointment in wake of 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart being a healthy scratch Sunday in Baltimore.

But Golden’s disappointment wasn’t with Stewart. It was for him.

“I'm not discouraged at all in Shemar. I'm really not,” Golden said. “I think that was unfortunate. I was really hoping to see him take a big jump last week, and I have the same hope as I sit here today.

“I'm disappointed for him,” he added. “This has been a hard start.”

Not just a difficult start to his season, but a rough start to Stewart’s career.

The damage during his rookie year was self – or agent – induced, as Stewart held out for the entire offseason in a squabble over language in his contract.

By the time he signed at the start of camp, he had a lot of catching up to do. He could have got there, but more injuries followed, resulting in him playing just eight games and 280 snaps.

Stewart’s timeline flipped this year, with him taking part in every offseason session only to suffer a hyperextended knee in the first practice of training camp.

He didn’t practice until Sept. 2, 11 days before the season opener.

Stewart was inactive for Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Sunday’s contest in Baltimore.

In the three games he has appeared, he’s barely seen the field, playing five snaps at Houston – all in the fourth quarter – four against the Jacksonville Jaguars and eight against the Miami Dolphins.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor threw his support behind Stewart on Monday.

“He's doing all the right things,” he said. “I mean, he's getting better every week. This is his training camp for the most part. I think he's been doing a great job of practicing.

“We're just in a really tough spot with our inactives right now,” Taylor continued. “Sometimes we're really healthy, sometimes we're beat up at a position where we need another guy up. So unfortunately we just had to pull from the D-line, and it's a really deep D-line group and it's really difficult to choose who's going to be an active there.”

The mounting healthy scratches for Stewart have led some to speculate the Bengals could trade Stewart before the Nov. 10 deadline.

That is not something the team is considering, and Taylor said, without mentioning Stewart specifically, that the reports are fabricated and he doesn't like that his players have to see them on social and traditional media.

"I feel great (about the current roster)," Taylor said when asked about the trade deadline. "I hate that our players have to deal with things that get made up sometimes. That’s a part of it. It’s a fun conversation for people. We really like our guys."

Cedric Johnson, the team’s sixth-round pick in 2024, has moved ahead of Stewart on the depth chart, as has this year’s top pick, second-rounder Cashius Howell, who is taking reps away from Stewart on the edge as well as inside on third down.

But Taylor said he doesn’t want to sit Stewart every week, and Golden made it sound as though they’re planning on playing him Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

“We just worked him in in the walk-through,” Golden said after the team’s morning session. “We'll continue to do that this afternoon in practice, and I'm looking for that moment when we don't turn back.”

In addition to the progress the coaches have seen from Stewart, they’ve also been impressed with his attitude despite being in such a difficult position.

“He's been really positive,” Golden said. “He continues to get better, and when it's his turn, the important thing is that he doesn't leave the field again.”

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