Latest Injury Update on Dax Hill, Bryan Cook as Bengals Return to Field During Joint Practice Week

The Bengals' injured defensive backs still aren't practicing with the team as the absent days grow near double digits, but progress is being made.

Dax Hill, Bryan Cook and Shemar Stewart were all on the Bengals' rehab practice field getting work in together on Tuesday while the rest of the team went through a normal session.

Stewart is likely still weeks away from returning in full, while Hill and Cook are much murkier.

Taylor discussed their status last week ahead of the first preseason game and is slated to talk again on Thursday morning.

"They will not play in this game, so we'll get them through the week and then see where that lands going into next week," Taylor said about Hill and Cook.

All in all, it would be nice to have them on the field for Thursday's joint practice against the Bears, but that's a big mystery until Taylor talks again that morning.

He dove into the practice mentality this past Saturday during arguably the most important week of training camp for the starters. It's unlikely any major starters play big snap counts again the rest of the preseason, which picks back up on Saturday night against Chicago.

"I think for our guys, when they are in the locker room, we go to the practice field. It feels like a game to them," Taylor stated this past weekend. "It's another opponent that we haven't seen in practice for the last three weeks, and so they'll be excited to go do this. There's a lot of that energy and tempo that's going to come with that, and we'll get a chance to check the box on about every different situation that comes up in practice: normal downs, third down, red zone, end of game, two-minute, four-minute.

"So I know our guys will be excited for it, and we'll treat it like we would a game. It's just a more controlled environment. You get a chance to make sure you're hitting certain situations and getting guys certain reps for certain looks. So it's good. It's a good change of pace for camp. I think for our guys, something to look forward to, something to do here at our home field, and it'll be good practice for us."

It doesn't seem like the soft-tissue injuries for Hill and Cook are major problems right now, but it's been enough to take away a good chunk of their training camp reps.

Check out footage of them on the rehab field from Sports With Strawberry Ice below:

Looks like Dax Hill, Brian Cook and Shamar Stewart are on the rehab field #BengalsBridgecrew pic.twitter.com/nIkDCfhttA
— Sports with Strawberry Ice (@JeffATrennepohl) August 18, 2026

Looking pretty good on the rehab field Brian Cook Dax Hill #BengalsBridgeBrew pic.twitter.com/DTUrsvBjBI
— Sports with Strawberry Ice (@JeffATrennepohl) August 18, 2026

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