‘It Took Me a Year Just To Learn How To Walk and Run Again’ — Bengals DT Making Bid for the 53-Man Roster

The stat sheet from Friday night’s preseason opener shows Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Domenique Davis with zero tackles. The film, however, shows Davis was a menace.

At 6-foot-2, 326 pounds, Davis is a stout nose guard built to stop the run. But where he flashed against the Packers was as a pass rusher with four pressures, one of which led to Tycen Anderson’s pick-six.

Could Domenique Davis Win a Spot on the 53-Man Roster?

Davis played 45 snaps, the fourth-most among Bengals defensive players. And it was one of his first of the night when he made his biggest play, beating Green Bay guard Sean Rhyan to get in the face of quarterback Sean Clifford to force an early throw that Anderson snared and took 43 yards the other way.

“He kind of forced that interception, had a great move on the guard, and the quarterback really couldn’t see and just threw it,” Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “Tycen was in the right spot.”

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“Next time, I want to get the sack, not just a QB hit,” Davis said before being asked if a sack would be better than getting an assist on a touchdown.

“You might be right on that one,” he admitted. “I’ll take the pick-six. Yeah, that’s cool.”

Everything is cool for Davis at the moment, three years after it appeared as though his career might be finished. The 27-year-old went undrafted out of Division II North Carolina-Pembroke in 2020, but the Jets signed him as a college free agent.

Davis suffered a Lisfranc injury during training camp, and the recovery was excruciating.

“It took me a year just to learn how to walk and run again. That’s not even involving football,” he said. “Then I had to ease into getting into my stance. It was a battle. I had to go every day, Monday through Saturday, Monday through Sunday sometimes.”

“You always have obstacles where you’re doubting yourself, but at the end of the day, I always looked at myself and asked, ‘What do I really want to do?'” he continued. “I love football, and this is a way to take care of my son and take care of my family. With me just getting a little taste of that with the Jets, I thought I could get there again.”

He didn’t have any film from his time with the Jets due to how early the injury happened, and his college film was met with shrugs, given the competition he was facing in Division II. So Davis signed with the Houston Gamblers of the USFL and finished the 2022 season with 57 tackles and 3.5 sacks, both of which were second on the team.

One of his sacks came seasoned with a little spice.

The Bengals took notice and signed him the day before training camp began. Davis was part of the final cuts, but the team re-signed him to the practice squad. He was elevated to the 53-man roster in October and made his NFL debut on Monday Night Football against the Browns, recording a pair of tackles.

Davis also played the following week against the Panthers before going back to the practice squad.

With 15 days to go before final cuts have to be made, Davis finds himself in a crowded battle with Josh Tupou and Jay Tufele to be the backup to DJ Reader. Or, possibly, to be one of two backups, given how much emphasis the Bengals place on stopping the run due to the types of offenses they face in the AFC North.

“We want him to be consistent, so you can’t have one good game, one bad game,” Anarumo said. “We want to know what we’re getting every day. So just continue to do what he did, and all these roster decisions will be made later down the line.”

“He’s done well in the run game, holding the point, and that’s a big part of how we have to operate around here,” Anarumo added.

While Tupou and, to a lesser extent, Tufele have proven reps in the league, Davis is showing he can bring more of a pass-rushing element to the position.

His four pressures against the Packers not only led the Bengals, but they were one shy of the most by any interior defensive lineman across the league last weekend. And they came on just 10 true pass sets, according to Pro Football Focus. His pass-rush grade of 89.8 was second-best among IDL players with at least five true pass sets (the Jets’ Bruce Hector led the way with a 92.7).

“He was able to do a little bit of pressure stuff the other day, which was great,” Anarumo said.

Later in the game, those 45 snaps started to take their toll, and Davis was tapping his helmet, indicating he wanted to come out for a breather. But the coaches never sent in a sub. So Davis lined up and pushed the pocket into the quarterback’s lap one more time.

“Just gotta keep working through it,” he said. “They didn’t have nobody else come back in there, so we’ve just got to keep working.”

“It showed them that it’s not a fluke,” he added. “I do it in practice, and I do it in games. Some guys do it in practice and can’t do it in a game. Hopefully, I opened their eyes a little bit and showed them that I’m working, and every day I’ve been doing it from the offseason, OTAs, and by myself that everything has helped me improve and shows them that I want to be here.”