Despite returning to practice ahead of the Bengals’ wild-card game, Auden Tate will not be in uniform when the team takes the field for Super Bowl LVI.
Tate’s practice period expired Tuesday without a roster move, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. This means the veteran wide receiver will revert to IR, a move that ends his season. Tate has not played since Week 7.
A thigh injury led to Tate’s IR placement in early December. The fourth-year wideout had battled that issue in the weeks leading up to that move, but the former seventh-round pick did not play much of a role this season. Tate caught three passes for 39 yards and a touchdown this season.
A shoulder ailment ended Tate’s 2020 season, and an MCL sprain in December 2019 wrapped his most promising season. After catching 40 passes for 575 yards in 2019 — during a season A.J. Green did not play — Tate has compiled just 189 yards since.
The Bengals have invested significant draft capital in the receiver position, taking Tee Higgins in the 2020 second round and adding likely Offensive Rookie of the Year Ja’Marr Chase fifth overall this year. Tate, who is set for free agency in March, will likely attempt to bounce back with another team next season.