Middle linebacker Preston Brown, who before this season hadn't missed a game since high school, became the sixth regular to go on the injured reserve list Tuesday and his first season as a Bengal is over.
In what looked to be a vote of confidence in Hardy Nickerson replacing Brown in the middle the Bengals replaced Brown on the roster with 6-2, 253-pound free-agent defensive end Kasim Edebali.
Edebali, a pass rusher in his fifth season out of Boston College, broke in undrafted with the 2014 Saints and played with them from 2014-16 before spending time last year with the Broncos, Lions and Rams and then rejoining the Saints late in the season.
Edebali was waived by the Saints in May, and then spent preseason with the Bears before being released at final cuts. He has played in 61 career games, and has 55 tackles, including eight sacks, three passes defensed and a forced fumble. The Bengals are looking for some juice on the edge after end Carl Lawson tore his ACL Oct. 28 against the Buccaneers.
Brown, a fifth-year player who led the NFL in tackles in Buffalo last season before signing a one-year deal with his hometown Bengals, injured his knee in the third quarter of the Nov. 11 game against New Orleans. But he hasn't been right since he hurt his ankle in the opener.
The Bengals also shelved rookie practice squad defensive tackle Andrew Brown for the season after he broke his hand in practice last week. Brown, a fifth-rounder out of Virginia, went to the squad after he was cut following the preseason. They replaced him with former Titans defensive end Aaron Wallace. The 6-2, 242-pound Wallace, a Tennessee seventh-rounder in 2016, had 17 career tackles and a sack before being waived in September.
They also added Utah State wide receiver Hunter Sharp to the practice squad. The 5-11, 198-pound Sharp is a first-year player with five career catches for a touchdown and eight career punt returns during stints with the Giants and Broncos. He signed as a college free agent with the Eagles in 2016 and was most recently on the Bills' practice squad.
