Ben Bibby, ESPN Writer Nov 5, 2024, 9:26pm ET
CloseBen Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Before joining ESPN, he worked at various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while appearing on SportsCenter, NFL shows on ESPN, and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an assistant professor of journalism at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
CINCINNATI — Bengals running back Zach Moss was placed on injured reserve Tuesday and will likely miss the rest of the season, coach Zac Taylor said.
Moss missed the team’s last game, a 41-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, due to a neck injury that was reported late last week. After further assessment, the case was deemed serious enough to keep him out for a longer period.
“He’s still gathering more information but it doesn’t look like he’s going to come back,” Taylor said before practice Tuesday night.
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Taylor said early indications show Moss’ injury will not be career-ending, but more testing is being done. It is also unclear when exactly the problem occurred.
“I know late in the week he wasn’t feeling well,” Taylor said. “And that’s where it ends.”
In the off-season, the former Colts tight end signed him to a two-year, $8 million deal. When Cincinnati landed Moss, it finalized the move from Joe Mixon, who was with the team from 2017-2023 and reached the Pro Bowl in 2021. Mixon was eventually traded to the Houston Texans.
At the start of the season, Moss and second-year running back Chase Brown split the backfield duties. But in recent weeks, Brown has been the most productive linebacker. With Moss injured against the Raiders, Brown set career highs in carries (27) and rushing yards (120).
With Moss injured, the Bengals made a trade with the Chicago Bears on Tuesday for running back Khalil Herbert. The move, finalized just hours before the 4 p.m. deadline, sent a 2025 seventh-round draft pick to the Bears for Herbert, who was buried on Chicago’s depth chart and has only eight carries in six games this season.
Herbert arrived in Cincinnati around 2 p.m. Tuesday and was wearing his new number, 34, at team practice before Thursday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. Taylor did not rule out the possibility of Herbert being available to play in a crucial AFC North road game.
“We’ll see where it goes,” Taylor said. “I won’t take it off the table.”
One of the other storylines surrounding the Bengals was wide receiver Tee Higgins, who plays on the franchise tag and is set to become a free agent after this season. Taylor rejected the idea that Higgins could have been postponed before Tuesday’s deadline.
“These are the conversations you all have had,” Taylor said. “Not us.”
Higgins did not train on Tuesday night as he continues his recovery from a quadriceps injury. He has missed the past two games and has missed four games this season.
