Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson struggled to find the words to explain his reaction to being benched.
“Weird mentally,” Wilson said. “Weird physically.”
“It is what it is.”
“I felt like I was (playing well), but obviously Zac (Taylor) felt otherwise.”
When asked if he understood the move, Wilson said, “Not really.”
He said that he didn’t get a clear explanation.
“The reason I was given was they wanted a spark on defense,” Wilson said.
The 29-year-old hadn’t been making splash plays, but his performance had been perfectly fine. The Bengals still benched a team captain who was expected to be one of the defense’s best players in 2025 just six games into the season. They benched him right after they traded for a 40-year-old quarterback and right before a pivotal game against the Steelers that represents the crossroads moment of this entire Bengals’ season.
“I don’t know exactly what (spark) means,” Wilson said. “When I asked if there was anything I could do to improve and be better, I wasn’t really given a great reason. That’s the hardest part about the whole situation. I’m not going to change who I am because of the cards I’ve been dealt. I’m going to continue to be a good teammate and support (Barrett Carter).”
Carter, the Bengals’ fourth-round rookie, stepped in as the middle linebacker and the signal caller in the huddle in Green Bay. The Bengals are rolling with Carter going forward, and Wilson will be limited to a sub-package role. When the Bengals are looking to sub in another downhill thumper and use three linebacker looks, Wilson will be on the field. Against the Packers, he got 12 snaps to work with.
Carter has speed, upside, an intriguingly versatile play style and could be a core piece of the long-term Bengals’ defense. But he also left plays on the field in Green Bay and struggled with missed tackles as he made his first NFL start.
Does Wilson think the Bengals just wanted to play the young guy and see what they had?
“I think so,” Wilson said. “I’m sure you guys can ask Zac (Taylor) that question. I’m guessing that was certainly a part of it.”
Taylor said that the decision was “more about Carter than anything else” and that Wilson will still have his role (a limited one on early downs when the Bengals use three linebackers).
Back in April, when it didn’t really look like the Bengals needed another linebacker on Day 3 of the draft, Al Golden was really excited to add Carter and said that Carter would make an immediate impact. The Bengals had more pressing needs on paper at the time like swing tackle, defensive tackle and safety. They picked Carter, and now the Bengals are making an admittedly risky decision by throwing him into the fire and the starting lineup.
“It was a collective thought of let’s give Barrett a try,” Golden said. “We’ll see where we’re at with him and see if it brings a different energy. But that’s really it. It has nothing to do with Logan. It was just about giving Barrett an opportunity, and we’ll see how it unfolds moving forward.”
Carter will have his growing pains, and he made mistakes on two pivotal plays for the Packers on Sunday. On one of them, he didn’t see an open Josh Jacobs available for a check down that resulted in a 29-yard gain. On the other, neither Carter nor Demetrius Knight Jr. filled the A-gap, which resulted in a 14-yard touchdown run by Jacobs.
The Bengals are moving forward with two rookie linebackers.
“High anxiety any time you have two rookie guys out there,” Golden said. “But if you’re going to have two rookie guys out there, those are the two that we want.”
Last week, after Wilson learned that he wouldn’t be starting anymore, he made a point to pull Carter aside for a conversation. Back in 2020, when Wilson was a rookie, veteran linebacker Josh Bynes was an incredibly important part of Wilson’s long-term development.
Wilson put his arm around Carter last Wednesday and said that he’d be there for him.
“I’m not going to change who I am because of the cards that I’ve been dealt,” Wilson said. “I’m going to continue to support Barrett. I put my arm around him and told him there are going to be no hard feelings between us. I’m not going to change who I am. I want to help you out.
“I told myself I’m not going to change who I am because of a time of adversity in my life. Whenever my career is done, I want to look back at this time of adversity and be able to tell my kids how to get through adversity like this. That’s what I’ll be most proud of at the end of the day.”
Now, Wilson is a 29-year-old bench player on a rebuilding defense with two years left on his contract. He’s the sixth-highest paid player on the team.
Does he put any thought toward his future with the Bengals?
“I’m not worried about that right now,” Wilson said. “All of that stuff will take care of itself when it needs to. In the meantime, I’m going to focus on the here and now and this team.”
What he’s looking for is a clearer answer on why he was benched.
“There was no real reason for it that I was given,” Wilson said. “It is what it is. That’s been my mindset. Understanding there has got to be a bigger picture and a bigger plan as to what’s going on. I’ll continue to do whatever my role is and try to be a professional the best I can given the circumstances.”
Our rookie LB’s left a gaping hole for Packer RB to walk into the end zone untouched. Might have been smart to have Logan in there in the Red Zone? Give the rookies snaps (and let them learn) in the middle of the field? Sounds like the communication was very poor on all of this. No mention of either the LB Coach or the DC in the communication loop? Seems to me this is an excellent path to lose the locker room?
Right or wrong move, really makes you want a change in management and coaching. Poor communication; not caring about veterans; either bad re-sign to have him on the roster or bad coaching to have him not perform, most likely both.