Bengals safety Tycen Anderson played through torn ACL vs. 49ers

Friday, the Cincinnati Bengals made it official by moving safety Tycen Anderson to injured reserve before the Sunday night game against the Buffalo Bills.

Anderson had been on the injury report all week with a knee issue, but it was Friday that Bengals head coach Zac Taylor revealed he suffered a torn ACL.

In a rather stunning turn of events, Taylor also revealed that Anderson suffered the injury early in the Week 8 win over the San Francisco 49ers and played through the injury the rest of the game, per Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic.

“He had emerged on the scene pretty quickly. A big guy that can run fast,” special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “One guy won’t replace him, but we’ve got a plethora of guys that can fill certain roles.”

It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Anderson, the Toledo product who was a summer breakout this preseason and having a big impact on special teams. His 2023 season is over after the gutsy showing in California, but he’ll be back in the mix next offseason once he’s fully recovered.