The Cincinnati Bengals have missed the NFL Playoffs twice in a row. That does needs to change as their roster is filled with top talent that shouldn’t miss postseason football. Joe Burrow, the leader of the team, received good news as one heavy name got back on track with the team.

Per Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic, Geno Stone was back in practice after dealing with an unspecified soft tissue injury. He was labeled week-to-week but now he is back. He is poised to be the starting free safety of the team.

Another key name that practiced is starting left tackle, Orlando Brown. Per Dehner’s report, Myles Murphy is still out injured and Jermaine Burton and Mike Gesicki are on the rehab field. Gesicki was a good weapon last year for Joe Burrow.

Geno Stone needs to be back better than ever

The reason why the Bengals missed last season’s playoffs was simple: their defense was one of the worst in the entire NFL. It was Geno Stone’s first year with Cincinnati and even if the defense was bad, he still had some great numbers.

Stone led the team in interceptions with four, including one pick six. He allowed 22 passes completed out of 33 passes covered. Where he failed was in the red zone, as he allowed five touchdowns last season.

see also NFL News: Joe Burrow is self-critical of Bengals offense, sending a message to Ja’Marr Chase and teammates

There is a new defensive coordinator on the Bengals

Lou Anarumo left the team after last season’s defensive debacle. Now, it’s Al Golden’s responsibility to make this unit a respectable one. Golden was the linebackers coach for the Bengals in 2020 and 2021 before going to Notre Dame as defensive coordinator.

There, he had the nation’s fourth best scoring defense allowing only 15.5 points a game. Now, he is tasked to reform a fallen unit on one of football’s toughest divisions. He will face Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers twice.