CINCINNATI – The Bengals will play the third different defender of the season, Ryan Finley getting the start against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night football, coach Zac Taylor said on Saturday.
Finley replaces Brandon Allen, who suffered a bruised bone in the loss of week 14 to the Dallas Cowboys.
Finley, a sophomore from North Carolina, took on first-team representatives all week, while Allen did not train.
“I’m just not ready to play,” Taylor said of Allen during a conference. Finley spent most of the season as the team’s backup, until incumbent Joe Burrow came down in Week 11 with a knee injury at the end of the season. Allen, who was the team’s emergency defender, was moved from the training squad to the 53-man roster and hit Finley on the depth chart.
Finley has come off the bench in four matches this season. He completed 10 of 19 passes for 75 meters, without a touchdown and two interceptions. The 25-year-old started three games as a rookie in 2019, the last coming with a 16-10 loss to the Steelers.
The Bengals (2-10-1) are in the middle of a five-game losing streak and have not defeated Pittsburgh since 2015. Cincinnati has scored three offensive touchdowns since Week 12, the lowest in the NFL this season.
Kevin Hogan, who joined the coaching staff on November 28, will be the backup for Monday’s game against Pittsburgh.