The Bengals are entering the 2024 season with high hopes, especially with the return of quarterback Joe Burrow, who missed the end of last season with a wrist injury. However, one of Cincinnati’s star defenders recently revealed that he was also far from healthy at the end of 2023.
Defensive end Sam Hubbard, the Bengals’ third-round pick in 2018, played through an ankle injury that kept him out for two games last season. But the injury was more extensive than originally thought.
‘There was a lot of instability in the ankle that we found out later,’ Hubbard told reporters. ‘Probably should have been fixed earlier, but you didn’t know until we went in there.’
Hubbard said he tweaked the ankle in training camp, but it became more severe as the season progressed, and he reaggravated it in the Bengals’ Week 9 win over the Buffalo Bills.
The 28-year-old was able to play through the injury, finishing the season with 58 tackles (seven for a loss), six sacks, 17 QB hits, and two fumble recoveries. But after returning from his two-game hiatus, he wasn’t the same, tallying just two sacks from Weeks 12-18.
A fluoroscopy at the end of the season revealed that it wasn’t a routine ankle sprain.
Luckily, Hubbard said the surgery was a success and that he should be fully healthy by the start of the 2024 season.
‘I’m thankful that I made it out with no cartilage damage and stuff like that, but it’s all fixed,’ he added.
For now, the six-year veteran is focused on returning to the level of play he was at before the injury.
‘I stayed here the whole time, rehabbing at the new training room we got, and been progressing really well. Been running with the team now, so I’m feeling good,’ Hubbard said. ‘I was playing great the first half. Had some of my best football. … I’m going to get back to my old self.’
