The injuries for the Bengals’ defense just keep piling up. The team placed defensive tackle Josh Tupou on injured reserve today, ending his season, the team announced via Twitter.
To take his spot on the 53-man roster, the team signed defensive tackle Niles Scott away from the Broncos’ practice squad. Tupou’s injury was a torn pec that he suffered in practice on Wednesday, according to Geoff Hobson of the Bengals.com (Twitter link). It’s the latest in a long string of defensive injuries for the Bengals, as several starters have already missed significant time this season.
A 2017 undrafted free agent from Colorado, Tupou was a deep reserve to start the season. However, he had begun playing heavy snaps in the past couple of weeks due to all the injuries. He played around 50 percent of the snaps the past couple of weeks as a run-stuffer inside, so it’s a pretty significant loss.
Scott is a rookie undrafted free agent who has bounced around a bit. From tiny Division III school Frostburg State, Scott originally signed with the 49ers and spent training camp with San Francisco. After a sting on the 49ers’ practice squad, he wound up in Denver, where he’d been until today. It’s always cool to see a D-3 guy get a chance, and he has a realistic chance to earn some playing time on this depleted Bengals squad.
Marvin Lewis probably wanted Scott on the roster so he could learn if there are any job openings available in D3.