Bengals’ Evan McPherson went to IR with groin injury

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  • Ben Baby, ESPN staff writerDecember 4, 2024, 4:10 PM ET

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      Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News, covering college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com while appearing on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL Shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct professor of journalism at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

CINCINNATI — Bengals kicker Evan McPherson is headed to injured reserve with a right groin injury, the team announced Tuesday.

The fourth-year kicker from Florida suffered the injury in last weekend’s loss to the Steelers, but it is unclear when exactly the problem occurred. He made his only field goal attempt in the 44–38 loss and also made all five point-after attempts.

In a similar move, Cincinnati added Cade York to the practice squad. York, a fourth-round draft pick of the Browns in 2022, was most recently with the Commanders following a trade from Cleveland in August.

In 17 games with Cleveland, York struggled. He was 24-of-32 on field goal attempts and 35-of-37 on extra point attempts. In August, the Browns traded him to the Commanders for a conditional seventh-round pick. He missed both of his field goal attempts in the team’s season opener against the Buccaneers and was released.

McPherson played a big role in Cincinnati’s run to the Super Bowl in the 2021 season. In August, he signed a three-year contract extension worth $16.5 million, including $5 million guaranteed. However, he has struggled with accuracy this season. His field goal percentage of 72.7% ranks 29th among 34 eligible players, according to ESPN Research.

York is familiar with a few Bengals players. He was a freshman at LSU on the team that won the national championship and had quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, who are now teammates in Cincinnati.

In an additional move, the Bengals signed offensive tackle Andrew Stueber to the active roster. He has played in four games this season but was waived and added to the practice squad prior to the Week 13 game against the Steelers.