CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Bengals took a hit to their linebacker depth and special teams Monday when they had to place Jayson DiManche on injured reserve with a broken forearm. DiManche suffered the injury during Sunday's 14-13 win at Tampa Bay.
The team has not yet announced a corresponding move to fill DiManche's spot on the roster. NFL teams typically host tryouts for players on Tuesdays. The Bengals could also look at signing a player from another team's practice squad, which is how they acquired Nico Johnson. The Bengals signed Johnson off of the Kansas City practice squad on Oct. 15.
DiManche played on 19 special teams snaps against the Buccaneers, according to NFL stats, and appeared to have gotten hurt in the fourth quarter while covering a punt by Kevin Huber. The second-year player from Southern Illinois had played in every game this season, including one start, with seven tackles on defense and three on special teams, plus a forced fumble on special teams.
DiManche played in all 16 games last season when he was the lone undrafted free agent rookie to make the 53-man roster. He had a blocked punt last season against Cleveland that was returned for a touchdown in a 41-20 Bengals win.
The Bengals have been dealing with injuries to their linebackers throughout the season. DiManche is the third linebacker place on IR, joining Sean Porter and J.K. Schaffer, but they've also had their starters miss 12 games due to injury. Vontaze Burfict has missed seven games, two earlier in the season due to concussions and the last five after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.
Burfict's status for this week's game against Pittsburgh is still to be determined. He has not practiced since he had surgery on Oct. 29.
