Zac Taylor Reacts After Bengals Lose Veteran QB to NFC Team

A busy week for the Cincinnati Bengals started with a roster loss before the team had even settled back in from Madrid, when the Arizona Cardinals signed quarterback Josh Johnson off Cincinnati's practice squad on Monday.

ESPN's Adam Schefter was first to report the move, which put Johnson on Arizona's 53-man roster.

The Cardinals needed help after quarterback Gardner Minshew went down with a UCL injury, and Schefter noted that Arizona will be the 15th NFL team of Johnson's career.

Head coach Zac Taylor did not hide on Wednesday that he would have liked to keep the 40-year-old around.

"Josh had played so well. He's obviously a roster-caliber quarterback. We just weren't in a position to do that. So we were very fortunate to have him on the practice squad," Taylor said on Wednesday.

Taylor added that he felt good about practice squad quarterback Sean Clifford too, and he said he still believes the Bengals have had the best quarterback room in the NFL from top to bottom.

He also said he was happy for Johnson, called him a true professional and said the team will be pulling for him in Arizona.

It sounds like the Bengals will not add another quarterback, which leaves quarterback Joe Flacco as the backup on the active roster behind quarterback Joe Burrow, with Clifford still on the practice squad.

I agree with standing pat here.

Johnson was a nice safety net, but he was on the practice squad behind Flacco, and Cincinnati could not offer him a spot on the 53-man roster.

Letting him take a real job with Arizona was the right thing to do, and Clifford gives the team a body for practice.

Burrow is where the focus belongs anyway, since he leads the NFL with a 74.0% completion rate, which puts him on a record-setting pace, and the offense is averaging nearly 36 points per game during a four-game winning streak that includes a 34-17 win over the Falcons in Madrid.

Health is a bigger worry at other spots, as Taylor called left guard Dylan Fairchild day-to-day, and the team's estimated injury report on Wednesday listed safety Kyle Dugger as not participating with a quadriceps injury and cornerback DJ Turner II limited with an ankle issue.

Cincinnati only held a walkthrough that day after flying home from Spain, so the next reports will give a better read on who is ready, especially after the injuries that piled up against Tennessee earlier this month.

The timing of all this lines up with a huge game, because the Bengals are 6-2 and tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for first place in the AFC North, and the two teams meet on Sunday night at Paycor Stadium.

Pittsburgh won the first meeting 30-27 in September, and the winner of this one will hold first place alone.

Losing Johnson will not change much on Sunday, but it does leave the Bengals with a thinner safety net at the most important position on the field, which is a risk I can live with for a team playing this well.