Bengals rule out D.J. Reader after star defensive tackle suffers knee injury vs. Vikings

Bengals star defensive tackle D.J. Reader has been ruled out for the remainder of Cincinnati’s Week 15 matchup with the Vikings due to a knee injury, the team announced. Reader suffered the injury in the opening quarter of Saturday’s matchup. 

Specifically, the injury occurred on just the second defensive play of the game for the Bengals. Vikings running back Ty Chandler took a second-and-1 run up the middle and Reader appeared to go down almost instantly after the snap and was tangled up in the scrum. He exited the game on a cart and was quickly ruled out by the team, which typically translates to it being a serious injury. 

The 29-year-old has been a key piece to Cincinnati’s defense since coming over as a free agent in 2020 after beginning his career with the Texans, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Clemson. Reader has been among the top interior defensive tackles and has 34 tackles, seven quarterback hits and a sack through 13 games played this season. 

The Bengals came into Week 15 at 7-6 on the season and trying to claw back into one of the wild card spots in the AFC. Entering this matchup with Minnesota, they were slotted as the No. 10 seed in the conference, but tied with a number of teams and just a game behind the Cleveland Browns (8-5) for the No. 5 seed. With that in mind, wins are paramount at this time of the year and not having Reader in the fold to help them make a playoff push for at least this game against the Vikings is less than ideal.