The Bengals traded for running back Khalil Herbert on Tuesday, and the running back was in the building hours later as the team readies to play Baltimore on Thursday night.
Head coach Zac Taylor noted on Tuesday that there’s a chance Herbert plays this week despite his recent arrival.
“We’ll have to see how it goes,” Taylor said, via Geoff Hobson of the team’s website. “Good production. He’s an able and willing protector … Smart guy. Great reports on him. People say a lot of positive things about him.”
Herbert, 26, had 611 yards rushing with two touchdowns last season along with 20 catches for 134 yards with a TD. But with a new coordinator in Chicago, he hadn’t been as involved in the offense in 2024. He recorded 16 yards rushing with a touchdown and two catches for 4 yards in six games this season. He was a healthy scratch for the Bears’ last two games.
“I think he’ll help us in a lot of different ways,” Taylor said. “He played a lot of football in his time in Chicago. We had good reports on him coming out of college. We evaluated his play over the last couple of days and decided to add him to the mix.”
As for playing this week, quarterback Joe Burrow basically noted that he can just tell Herbert what to do before the snap.
“Football is football for the most part. A couple new languages, but he is right there next to me, so I can tell him what to do when he is out there,” Burrow said. “We’ll see how much he ends up playing, but I am confident we can get him right.
“It might happen on gameday, too, where he is standing right next to me and doesn’t know what to do and I lean over and tell him. He’s right next to me. That’s an easy thing for me to do.”
In 48 career games, Herbert has rushed for 1,791 yards with nine touchdowns and caught 45 passes for 291 yards with two TDs.
