D.J. Reader, a defensive tackle with the Lions, got a new contract last month and stated this week that leaving the Bengals after four successful seasons in Cincinnati was “extremely difficult.”
His last moment wearing a Bengals uniform wasn’t a happy one. After suffering a ruptured right quad in Week 15, Reader said that the Bengals’ choice to go elsewhere might have been influenced by his past injury history, which included missing seven games in 2022 and eleven games in 2020 due to a damaged left quad.
D.J. Reader rubbishes claims that injury will impact him long term
However, Reader stated this week on The Jim Rome Show that he doesn’t think the injury will have a long-term effect on his style of play. The Lions offered him a two-year contract. Reader said,
“I don’t see any setbacks keeping me from being able to be right back where I was and the player I was,” “When I’m out there playing, I’m one of the top three players at my position. So I don’t think that’s gonna change once I get back and this knee’s back. I think it’ll be, like you said, another setup for greatness to go out there and do this thing.”
Excited about what the club may accomplish defensively this year is the possibility of pairing Reader’s new defensive tackle partner, Alim McNeill, with Aidan Hutchinson on the edge. McNeill is coming off a terrific season.