CINCINNATI – The Bengals will play their third different quarterback of the season, with Ryan Finley starting the Pittsburgh Steelers Football Monday night, coach Zac Taylor said Saturday.
Finley replaces Brandon Allen, who suffered a bone contusion in the Week 14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Finley, a second-year North Carolina state player, got first-team representatives all week while Allen was not practicing.
“He’s just not ready to play,” Taylor said of Allen during a conference call. Finley spent most of the season as the team’s quarterback until starter Joe Burrow fell in Week 11 with a season-ending knee injury. Allen, who was the team’s emergency quarterback, was moved from the training roster to the 53-man roster and faced Finley in the depth box.
Finley has come off the bench in four games this season. He completed 10 of 19 75-yard passes, no touchdowns and two interceptions. The 25-year-old started three games as a rookie in 2019, with the last one in a 16-10 loss to the Steelers.
The Bengals (2-10-1) are in the middle of a five-game losing streak and haven’t won Pittsburgh since 2015. Cincinnati has scored three offensive touchdowns since Week 12, the lowest in the NFL during that period.
Kevin Hogan, who signed on the training squad on Nov. 28, will be the secondary quarterback in Monday’s game against Pittsburgh.