SLOT STUFF: The secondary suffered another huge loss Friday when Taylor ruled out slot cornerback Mike Hilton. But unlike No. 1 cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, Hilton (finger) is back after the bye. The former Steeler who had a pick-six against his old club at Paycor last season, knows the first game after the bye.
“Yeah, I know exactly where it is. On Sunday night,” Hilton said Friday. “Couldn’t miss that one. I’m excited about that one.”
But it’s a big loss for even a game. Hilton isn’t only a fiery team leader (watch the sidelines when the offense makes a play), but he’s a standout at arguably the sport’s most demanding position.
“It’s a different type of game in there,” said Hilton of the slot. “You have to be in run fits, you have to be able to blitz and, obviously cover. You have to have all your assets in your game. I think it’s the best cornerback position on the field.”
It’s the first game Hilton has missed in his two seasons as a Bengal and he had played 37 straight, including postseason. Which means his backup, Jalen Davis, hasn’t had much work.
The 5-10, 190-pound Davis, 26, a third-year man who has played only special teams in his last 15 games, played 56 scrimmage snaps last year with five tackles and a pass defensed. A total of 23 of those plays came in the 41-10 win over the Steelers in the game Hilton had the pick-six.
But he’s maintained his roster spot with back-to-back dazzling preseasons. In 2021 he had two passes defensed and seven tackles and this past year, when he had 78 snaps and a start in the three games, he had ten tackles and three passes defensed.
“He’s been around the system for a long time,” Hilton said. “He knows it. He knows his role and he’s had some starting experience. This isn’t a situation new to him. We expect him to go out there and make plays.”
Taylor says it could be a lot worse with Awuzie and Hilton out, as well as first-outside-cornerback-off-the-bench Tre Flowers (hamstring) questionable after not practicing all week.
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