CINCINNATI — Trey Hendrickson is having a season for the ages.
The Bengals defensive edge is just a half-sack shy of his official franchise record for sacks of 14 set in 2021, with still four games remaining. He has 13.5 sacks, just 1.5 sacks behind Khalil Mack of the Chargers for the NFL lead. T.J. Watt has 14 and Danielle Hunter, Maxx Crosby and Josh Allen (Jaguars) all have 13.5, tied with Hendrickson for third in the NFL.
But on Sunday, he may have been inspired by his own mistake in the first half that cost the Bengals momentum and sent the Colts on the way to 14 points in 25 seconds.
His penalty for roughing quarterback Gardner Minshew II kept a drive alive and allowed the Colts to go on a 17-play drive that ended with a touchdown. On the ensuing Bengals drive, there was a pick-6, tying the game at 14-14.
Hendrickson finished with two sacks and forced a fumble that ended with a recovery by BJ Hill in the fourth quarter that helped seal Cincinnati’s 34-14 win. His defensive coordinator knows well enough that sometimes you take the good with the not-so great.
BJ Hill unbelievable interception off of the Trey Hendrickson hit. The people want to see BJ Hill catch a touchdown on the goal line. pic.twitter.com/rcLYPVZwE8
— mike (@bengals_sans) December 12, 2023
“A great pass rusher looks like Trey has all of the qualities of a great rusher,” defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “He’s powerful. He can run right down the middle of you as said, he can beat you off the edge with speed and he’s nimble enough to work the games and stuff. So that’s what the great ones do. And they’re ball aware so that it’s sack fumble. He is coming over the top and getting those balls out.”
Few people in the NFL can match the motor that Hendrickson brings to each game. Sometimes that results in a strip sack. And on rare occasions the Bengals have to live with a flag after the whistle, thought they’d like those to be few and far between.
Lou Anarumo chats up four of his biggest leaders on D at Tuesday walkthrough. Trey Hendrickson, BJ Hill, Logan Wilson and Sam Hubbard. pic.twitter.com/8Mg66nDdWG
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) December 12, 2023
“Listen, Trey is a hundred miles an hour,” Anarumo said. “It was a situation where he let it go. It was clearly late hit the guy in the back. But sometimes when those guys, and I’m not making excuses, but he’s coming off of the blocker and kind of lost where the ball was and he hits him and that’s what he explained to me.
“Now, I let him know that that’s (not OK). They go score when (we should’ve been) off the field. So he knows he can’t do that, but I give him a big hug at the end of the game. Said you made up for it.”
Anarumo wasn’t surprised to see the intensity with which Hendrickson played in the second half.
“Yeah. I mean, nobody felt worse than him,” Anarumo said. “He doesn’t want to do that. And his motor’s so high that, like I said, he came off the block and sometimes those guys, they don’t see it. And so I just said (to him), ‘Just make sure it’s not late, that’s all.'”
Anarumo was not writing off Hendrickson’s mistake as part of being “Blackout Trey”. Nor was he making excuses for his most explosive defensive player.
“No, he knows better. You know what I mean? He knows better,” Anarumo said. “You just can’t especially, we’re rolling there. It’s 14-0 right at that point. And then it was back to back momentum plays that we lost going into halftime.”
Anarumo also noted Tuesday that he saw something on the very first Indianapolis series Sunday that helped Hendrickson bullrush left tackle Bernhard Raimann and get pressure on Minshew.
“I went to him after the first play. I knew I wanted to call that and I said I wanted to see how he did that,” Anarumo said of a bull rush pressure from Hendrickson. “I don’t want to ever tie’s hand behind his back and say, ‘Hey, you got to rush this way.’ (Defensive line coach Marion Hobby) does a great job with those guys and they know how they have to rush different guys.
“But he just walked the kid right back to the quarterback and that was one thing that Minshew didn’t handle well was the pressure right in his face. He’d get antsy. So I said, Hey, just keep bowling this guy for some time here before we, and he was able to just move him off the spot some, and it was a great way to start the game, obviously. But yeah, he’s that guy. He does whatever.”
Anarumo’s defense has shown definite signs of improvement over the last two wins, starting with tackling in space. The Bengals are getting in position and finishing the defensive play to be made. Anarumo noted they weren’t doing that in the Houston and Tennessee games. The Bengals have seen an uptick in performance from their stars on defense, including Germaine Pratt, Logan Wilson, Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard. But when asked Tuesday about the most reliable and consistent player, Anarumo didn’t hesitate. He said DJ Reader is always in the right spot at the right time and in tune with the right scheme. It’s a big reason that the nose tackle is playing as many snaps as he has this season.
Rookie Jordan Battle continues to earn the trust of Anarumo and more importantly his teammates on the field. The safety had another impactful game on Sunday with four tackles. “Yeah, for sure,” Anarumo said of the safety’s growing confidence in his third start since taking over for Nick Scott. “And he’s getting a better feel for things and I think all that works together for sure… He’s still got a ways to go. I mean I know he is not perfect or like that, but I mean just (working on) being a secure attacker, trust me.”
Chido Awuzie continues to make strides back to the player he was before his ACL tear. “Chido keeps getting healthier and healthier and feeling better and better,” Anarumo said. “I was really pleased with the snaps that we got from DJ Ivey last week. He had a big pass breakup and that was a double move (by Alec Pierce), so most young guys are toast on that. He handled it great and got the PBU and didn’t look panicked. He had a heck of a play as a gunner, that’s a veteran move is pushing the guy into the returner and you get the fumble. That was a huge play. So happy with all those guys.” Meanwhile, Cam Taylor-Britt was spotted running sprints Tuesday indoors during the Bengals walkthrough. Taylor-Britt has just two more mandatory weeks remaining on IR before he can return.
DJ Ivey makes his first play for the Bengals! pic.twitter.com/jElPQ29Vov
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) December 10, 2023
