Life Without Cincinnati Bengals DT Geno Atkins.

The news we all feared as fans were a reality yesterday as Cincinnati Bengals all pro defensive tackle Geno Atkins official diagnosed of

his injury he sustained Thursday night in Miami was that he torn his ACL. He got hurt in the 2nd quarter of the game where the Bengals lost in overtime to the Dolphins 22-20.

The all pro DT Atkins was injured when his leg appeared to roll up underneath one of his teammates and a Dolphins ball carrier who was being tackled at the end of a 3-yard run. As soon as the play was over, Atkins rolled over onto his right side and took off his helmet and we all feared something was wrong.

This team has been banged big time especially in the defensive side,losing Leon Hall to a season ending Torn Achilles against the Detroit Lions two weeks ago, then last week losing Taylor Mays, Rey Maualuga, and Andrew Whitworth to injuries. Mays was put on IR and is out for the year with a shoulder injury. Maualuga suffered a concussion in the game against the New York Jets, and Whitworth had a knee injury all three didn’t play on Thursday. Maualgua is reportedly out three to four weeks with a knee injury, Whitworth might play next Sunday in Baltimore.

With Atkins done for the year, the next man up to replace him will be 2nd year player out of Clemson Brandon Thompson who played well on Thursday getting a huge stop on 3rd and inches play in overtime.

Head Coach Marvin Lewis said DT Devon Still who hurt his elbow against the Lions a couple weeks ago, said he is progressing and hasn’t ruled him out for the Baltimore game next week, but he has confidence in his depth of the defensive line.