Dax Hill remains optimistic he will be ready for the Cincinnati Bengals’ opener, despite being sidelined the last few weeks due to leg muscle tightness.
The fifth-year cornerback returned to practice last week and said Wednesday, Sept. 2, he had eased back into team drills.
Cincinnati hosts the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the opener Sunday, Sept. 13, and Hill wants to be in his starting spot at outside corner, if the coaching staff and trainers deem him ready.
“I mean whatever the coaches want me to do,” Hill said. “As competitors, we’re gonna be out there regardless, whether you’re 100% or 75%, so, I mean, I have that competitive nature in me, and so whatever they have planned for me, I mean, we’ll see, but I’m optimistic for Game 1. Even if it’s like 99 degrees like today or whatever, then let me hydrate on the sideline. Hopefully, we have a little timeout in between or something. But whatever it is, you know, I’ll be ready for it.”
Hill could find himself in a tricky spot with rookie Tacario Davis stepping up and impressing in his absence the last two weeks of training camp.
The Bengals in 2023 eased cornerback Chidobe Awuzie back from his ACL tear the previous season and while rotating, then-rookie DJ Turner ended up earning the starting job for the second half of the season.
When Davis was drafted in the third round this year, Hill’s role came into question. Speculation swirled he would move back inside, but Bengals coach Zac Taylor made clear going into training camp that he and Turner would be the starting outside corners. Hill is playing on a fifth-year option, though, with no contract extension in sight, and if Davis is the future, the Bengals face the conundrum of whether to fast-track him into a starting job or continue with Hill.
The veteran earned that spot with consistent play last year, but any window for Tacario Davis to win the job — or if Jalen Davis isn’t able to pick up where he left off in 2025 at nickel corner — could warrant a switch. Hill made clear earlier this year he wanted to stay at outside corner.
Depth at cornerback was a big question coming into camp, but Taylor said he feels good about the options in the secondary going into the season. Tacario Davis’ play and the emergence of DJ Ivey likely plays into that.
“I feel like we haven’t really lost our edge from last year,” Hill said when asked what he noticed watching from the sideline the past few weeks. “I feel like we ended up on a high note and we just brought the guys, new guys along, and feel like we just been at a high level, not really taking a day off if we have. It was probably just a day, but you know, we regrouped the next day and came back and showed out. So, I feel like the entire camp and leading up to this first game, it’s been great from top down.”
The secondary’s success could depend on Hill’s availability, though. He plans to see how this week goes with what he described as a soft tissue injury and “gauge from there.” He’s been reading the book “Longevity,” a health book that he said talks about medicine in general, but he started the 400-page book before his injury.
Hill has always been interested in nutrition and health, especially as he seeks to extend his NFL career as long as possible.
“I’ve been on nutrition, you know, basically my entire life,” Hill said. “My dad, he’s always been like a health freak, so I kind of got that from him.”
Hill said the timing of his injury being in August did not impact how he approached rehab or how the team managed him. There was no rush to get back with games still weeks away, but his timeline was based around how he was feeling.
When he wasn’t at his best, he didn’t want to put himself at risk or be a liability to his team. Hill did not want to comment on the status of any negotiations for a new contract or if that came into play at all. This could be an important year for earning his next contract, but he’s trying not to think about it.
“I don’t want to really talk about that, but hey, I’m out there, competing,” Hill said. “I’m not even worried about it. Everything that happens will happen whenever it needs to.”
