Chidobe

Awuzie

Awuzie is on injured reserve but doesn’t have a designation for Sunday’s game, meaning the Titans will activate him on Saturday. It’s good timing for the Titans after they listed fellow corner Rodger McCreary as questionable for Week 14 due to a shoulder injury.

That opens up his 21-day window to return. Brian Callahan told reporters that Awuzie will likely need to get back into football shape before he gets placed on the active roster. That reads like a quote about a player who won’t be active in Week 13. Perhaps Week 14 is a reasonable guess for an Awuzie return.

Awuzie will miss the next four games while recovering from his groin injury. The veteran corner joined the Titans on a three-year deal this offseason and has appeared on 110 defensive snaps for them thus far. He’s allowed just three receptions on six targets for 29 scoreless yards, earning a PFF coverage grade of 66.0. Awuzie will be eligible to return in Week 9 when the Titans host the Patriots.

Awuzie has spent the last three seasons with the Bengals, racking up 156 tackles and 25 pass breakups while also forcing two interceptions. Far from the player he used to be, Awuzie earned a PFF coverage grade of 62.3 last season, allowing 38 receptions for 488 yards and three touchdowns on 56 targets. He can provide much-needed depth to the Titans’ secondary, but we’d expect the Titans to make more additions to their secondary this offseason.

Awuzie was upgraded to a limited practice on Thursday and Friday after sitting out the Bengals’ opening session of the week. He is trending in the right direction, but with Cincinnati getting their bye in Week 7, the team could hold him out for one more game to give him a long recovery window.

Awuzie suffered a back injury in practice last Thursday and missed Sunday’s game in Arizona. While he did not practice on Wednesday, he was one of three players working out on the rehab field. The Bengals officially listed him as a “DNP” which puts his status in doubt for Sunday in a showdown with the Seahawks. The Bengals would turn to rookie D.J. Turner in his place, which would be a tough ask against Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf.

Tee Higgins was ruled out earlier in the week due to his rib injury, so him showing up here is not a surprise. However, the Bengals will now also be without their top corner, Awuzie, who hurt his back in practice on Thursday. Rookie D.J. Turner will slide into the starting lineup in his place while both Trenton Irwin and rookie Andrei Iosivas should see extra reps at wide receiver without Tee Higgins.

Hendrickson was not on the Bengals’ injury report until Friday, so he seemingly suffered the injury during the team’s final practice of the week. He was listed as questionable after the session but is seemingly good to go. Hendrickson has 3.5 sacks and four TFLs on the season. Per Rapoport, cornerback Chidobe Awuzie is a game-time call.

Sunday’s matchup against the Browns will mark the first time Awuzie has played since suffering in Week 8 of last season. The Bengals corner is expected to start opposite Cam Taylor-Britt, and had a PFF coverage grade of 73.1 last prior to his injury.

No surprises here as each player is working their way back from torn ACL injuries suffered during the 2022 season. Also added to the PUP list for the Bengals was OT Devin Cochran.