The Bengals will be without all three of their starting linebackers for Sunday’s game against the Vikings and one of them won’t be back before the year is out.
Linebacker Kevin Minter has been placed on injured reserve after injuring his hamstring in last weekend’s loss to the Bears. Minter, who missed four games earlier this season with an elbow injury, has 32 tackles on the year.
Vontaze Burfict has been ruled out for Sunday with a concussion and Nick Vigil is out with an ankle injury, so the Bengals promoted Brandon Bell to round out the linebacker group for the matchup with the Vikings.
Cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick will also miss the game with a concussion. Running back Joe Mixon has also been dealing with a concussion recently, but he was a full participant in Friday’s practice before drawing a questionable tag for the game.