The Cincinnati Bengals are in the middle of a backfield makeover of sorts. The latest in this shakeup on the depth chart comes off the heels of a litany of workouts Monday that has the team signing former New York Giants back Gary Brightwell to the practice squad, according to NFL Media. This comes after the team invited veteran running back Leonard Fournette as part of those workouts conducted by Cincinnati.
These workouts come after the Bengals placed running back Zack Moss on injured reserve due to a neck injury that is likely to put him on the shelf for the rest of the season. Cincinnati did begin to address their need for help in the backfield at the trade deadline, dealing for former Bears running back Khalil Herbert, and now Brightwell is another option for the club behind starter Chase Brown.
Brightwell, 25, was a sixth-round draft choice of the Giants back in 2021 out of Arizona. He spent his first three seasons in the league with New York, largely in a reserve role and special teams player. During his tenure, he carried the ball 41 times for 164 yards and a touchdown. He also caught 11 of his 16 targets for 92 yards receiving.
Last season, Brightwell suffered a hamstring injury in Week 7 that placed him on injured reserve. He was waived in May with an injury designation. More recently, Brightwell had a brief training camp stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars this summer. He later would sign with the Cleveland Browns in late August and was primarily on the practice squad until his release on Oct. 29.
As for Fournette, the 29-year-old hasn't seen much action in the NFL in recent years, and that's slated to continue after Cincinnati seemingly decided to go in a different direction. The former No. 4 overall pick out of LSU signed on with the Buffalo Bills practice squad in late October of last season and made two appearances down the stretch, getting called up to the gameday roster in Week 16 and Week 18. In that time, Fournette rushed for 40 yards on 12 carries.
At his peak, Fournette was an extremely skilled back as both a pure runner and receiver out of the backfield. With the Jaguars to begin his career, He had two seasons of over 1,300 yards from scrimmage, including a 1,674 scrimmage yard season in 2019. After being waived in the summer of 2020, Fournette signed with the Buccaneers, where he'd prove to be a key cog in the franchise's playoff run to Super Bowl LV. Those heroics initially gave him the moniker of "Playoff Lenny," but evolved to "Lombardi Lenny" after the team's championship victory.
For his career, Fournette has totaled 4.518 yards rushing and 34 touchdowns on the ground in 81 regular season games. As a pass catcher, he added 312 catches for 2,219 yards and seven touchdowns.
