Bengals are going all-in on rookies as Barrett Carter takes over at linebacker

CINCINNATI AP Between Week and Week Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden used a rotation at middle linebacker between veteran and group captain Logan Wilson and rookie Barrett Carter But then for last Sunday s matchup against the Green Bay Packers Carter took over as the starter and played every snap It definitely builds a lot of confidence Carter explained That s what they reported us coming in They didn t draft us to come in and not play That s what the plan was For us to come in and help this group Carter played all defensive snaps in the Bengals - loss to the Packers Only the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns are counting on rookies more than the Bengals who could possibly start five rookies this Thursday against the first-place Pittsburgh Steelers There are only seven rookie linebackers who have made a start this season and two of them are Bengals Only rookie offensive linemen have made a start and two of them are Bengals Only rookies in the NFL have made at least three starts this season Three of them are Bengals Defensive end Shemar Stewart who has been out since Week with an ankle injury and Carter are on their way to joining that list We re not going to hesitate to play guys that we think have a lot of expected for us Bengals coach Zac Taylor stated There s going to be selected growing pains there But all the guys that we have they re intelligent guys It s pivotal to them They re mature And so we re going to get them out there And they ve earned it Against the Packers rookie linebackers Demetrius Knight Jr and Carter combined for solo tackles They combined to be a part of a key third down blitz which created a pressure that forced an interception and the Bengals run defense was good for the bulk of the challenge But Carter and Knight also made a scant mistakes including a touchdown run by Packers running back Josh Jacobs where neither linebacker filled an open run lane up the middle Anytime you put a rookie out there there s an element of jeopardy to it Taylor stated When are you going to expose yourself to that peril Are you going to do it sooner rather than later I just felt Carter displayed enough to have us continue to work through it We re going to see constant improvement every single meeting And so again a lot of confidence in him We ll continue with that moving forward While Carter Knight and Stewart when healthy start on defense the Bengals offense is also counting on rookies Third-round pick Dylan Fairchild has been the Bengals left guard when healthy and fifth-round pick Jalen Rivers has taken over at right guard The Bengals have more experienced starting options at that position in Lucas Patrick and Dalton Risner but they re rolling with the rookies Once you re on the man roster or even on the practice squad with a chance to get elevated to the you have to be able to go perform offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher stated That s the expectation You have to be willing to play those guys and they have to go do it There s hiccups along the way that come with inexperience The Bengals shift toward playing more young players began in Because they re paying Joe Burrow Ja Marr Chase and Tee Higgins high-end salaries they need more young players to contribute The way we re constructed when you draft players that turn out to be the best or a few of the best at their position and then you retain those players you dedicate information to do that Pitcher declared The flip side is you have to be ready to play with rookies and I don t think we shy away from that at all We understand the challenges involved in that and we work really hard to get them ready That is what it is AP NFL https apnews com hub nfl Source