The Bengals acquired Clay Johnston on waivers from the Panthers on Tuesday.
The second-year linebacker has 11 tackles in eight career games. He's appeared in six games this season. Johnston was originally a seventh-round pick by the Los Angeles Rams in 2020.
The Bengals placed Akeem Davis-Gaither on injured reserve. He suffered a foot injury in Sunday's loss to the Browns. Johnston will likely be a core special-teamer with Davis-Gaither out.
The team also put Brandon Wilson on injured reserve. The safety was their primary kick returner and a big part of Darrin Simmons' special teams unit.
"We’ll have to fill his role with a variety of people probably on kickoff and the same thing on punt return," Simmons said. "When you lose a core guy like that it stings, it hurts, but that’s life in this league too. Everybody loses players on a week-to-week basis. You hate it when it happens to one of your core guys like that, but what it provides is an opportunity for one of the other guys to step up."
The Bengals are on their bye week, which gives Johnston time to learn the playbook and get ready for Cincinnati's matchup with Las Vegas on Nov. 21.
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