With Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson Off to Best Start of His Career, a Look at All 14 of His NFL-Leading Pressures

CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson is off to the hottest start of his career.

So much for the importance of training camp.

Last year Ja’Marr Chase won the Triple Crown after sitting out most of August, and this year it’s Hendrickson doing his best Allen Iverson impersonation.

Despite sitting out all of the offseason and training camp and not practicing until a few days before the start of the regular season, Hendrickson has 14 pressures through the first two weeks of season.

That leads the NFL ahead of Houston’s Will Anderson Jr. (13), Jacksonville’s Josh Hines-Allen (12), Minnesota’s Jonathan Greenard (12), whom the Bengals will see Sunday, and four players tied with 11, two of whom Cincinnati will face in Week 4 (Denver’s Nik Bonitto) and Week 5 (Green Bay’s Devonte Wyatt).

Not only does Hendrickson’s lead the league, the 14 pressures are a career high for the first two games of the season.

Here are Hendrickson’s Week 1-2 pressure numbers since Pro Football Focus began tracking them in 2019:

2025: 14

2024: 12

2023: 5

2022: 3

2021: 9

2020: 4

2019: 8

It’s hard to imagine where the Bengals’ defense – not to mention their record – would be without Hendrickson.

“Just in general, he’s impacted the game very positively for us,” defensive coordinator Al Golden said. “When you look at the number of practices he’s had with us, the number of reps, he’s really at the infant stage of 2025.

“He’s been able to play more reps than we thought he would consider the layoff, so very happy about him,” Golden added. “His leadership, his energy, his ability to finish plays and just his overall approach.”

As Golden pointed out, it’s not just the volume of pressures Hendrickson is recording. It’s the impact.

Sometimes a pressure can be little more than hot breath on a quarterback’s neck, where an experienced thrower will remain unfazed and get the ball out for a positive play.

Against 18-year veteran Joe Flacco and Trevor Lawrence (62 career starts), Hendrickson’s pressures have resulted in massive consequences for the opposing offense.

Let’s look at each one:

Week 1 at Cleveland

Second and 7 at CIN 20, (15:00 2Q) – Flacco 12-yard completion to Dylan Sampson, Hendrickson hit with roughing the passer penalty

Second and 9 at CIN 43 (12:13 3Q) – Flacco incomplete pass

First and 10 at CLE 25 (5:37 3Q) – Flacco sacked by Hendrickson

Third and 7 at CIN 42 (9:46 4Q) – Flacco pass to Jerry Jeudy for no gain, Hendrickson draws holding penalty

Third and 6 at CIN 22 (5:07 4Q) – Flacco pass to Jeudy for 9 yards

Third and 9 at CIN 12 (3:10 4Q) – Flacco sacked by B.J. Hill

First and 10 at CLE 1 (0:19 4Q) – Flacco pass incomplete

Third and 7 at CLE 4 (0:08 4Q) – Flacco pass to Jeudy for 25 yards, game ends

Week 2 vs. Jacksonville

First and goal at CIN 8 (4:57 1Q) – Lawrence intercepted by Dax Hill

Third and 10 at CIN 22 (1:47 2Q) – Lawrence pass incomplete

First and 10 at JAX 27 (0:26 2Q) – Lawrence pass incomplete

Third and 1 at JAX 38 (9:34 3Q) – Lawrence pass incomplete

Third and 4 at JAX 38 (8:00 4Q) – Lawrence pass to Brian Thomas for 7 yards

First and 10 at JAX 35 (0:18 4Q) – Lawrence sacked by Hendrickson

Hendrickson pressures had led to three sacks, an interception and six incompletions on nine attempts, with one of the completions being a gimme on the final play of the game with the Browns backed up at their own 4.

Hendrickson has 14 of the Bengals' 28 pressures this season.

Those 28 pressures rank 17th in the league.

Imagine where the Bengals defense would be without Hendrickson.