
Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson tried to play through his hip injury Sunday against the New York Jets, and he paid the price for it.
Hendrickson re-aggravated his injury after playing just 23 snaps, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz. The 30-year old originally suffered his injury back in Week 6 and missed one game because of it.
It's unclear whether or not Hendrickson will miss more time now, which is bad enough, but some feel a certain way about how Hendrickson left the game.
Hendrickson was already fighting through pain just to play Sunday, and he certainly felt it on his last play of the afternoon.
After trying to rush around the outside of left tackle Olu Fashanu, Hendrickson was then blocked in the back by left guard John Simpson and went to the ground, landing on his hip.
Per Schultz, members of the Bengals believe Simpson's hit was dirty.
#Bengals star DE Trey Hendrickson re-aggravated his hip injury today vs. the #Jets, though the team believes it’s not significant, per sources.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) October 26, 2025
Some within the organization felt the hit that caused the injury was a cheap shot. This is the video:
pic.twitter.com/lpwLyNffwA
Cincinnati rushed four on the play and Simpson was left by himself with no one to block. If there's anyone worth double-teaming for the Bengals' defensive line, it's obviously Hendrickson. The concept of a free offensive lineman "looking for work" is seen every single game, and what Simpson did was nothing different. The play was ongoing, and he made a block.
Simpson's block did come after quarterback Justin Fields threw the ball, but he was not facing him and therefore did not know Hendrickson was no longer a threat to sack his QB.
Was it unfortunate Hendrickson got hurt? Absolutely. He was playing despite not being 100% healthy, and the risk of making his injury worse was present the whole day. Re-aggravation could've occurred on any play, it just so happened to be this one.
Hendrickson left the game without a sack, and his teammates couldn't pick up the slack as Fields and New York posted over 500 yards of offense. The Bengals allowed 23 fourth-quarter points in what ended up being a one-point loss, dropping them to 3-5 on the year.
Cincinnati won two weeks ago without Hendrickson, and may have to try again in Week 9. We'll find out in a few days whether or not he can practice.
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