Atkins returns

Bengals DT Geno Atkins (knee) is questionable for Sunday's game against the Raiders. He put in a full practice Wednesday before sitting out Thursday and then returning to a limited workout Friday. We'll check his status Sunday afternoon.

Bengals DT Geno Atkins is beginning training camp on the active/PUP list. The team can activate its star interior pass-rusher at any point, but this move should remind fantasy owners that Atkins is coming off an ACL tear. Expecting him to get right back to his previous performance level wouldn't be fair, at least until he shows it on the field. We're not pushing Atkins too high up the 2014 IDP rankings at this point. There are safer -- and similar-upside -- options even for DT-specific roles in your IDP league.

The Bengals announced Friday that DT Geno Atkins tore his right ACL in Thursday night's loss to the Dolphins.  That's a big blow to the Cincinnati defense, taking away arguably the league's best interior pass-rusher.  Atkins' pressure not only creates sacks for himself but flushes QBs out to the waiting arms of Bengals DEs.  We won't downgrade the team D or any individual Cincinnati defenders in our rest of the way rankings before seeing how the team responds.  But don't be surprised if the unit slips a bit.