In his sixth Bengals season in 2016, Rey has made huge strides since signing with Bengals in ’10 as a college free agent ... Led 2015 team in tackles by a margin of 20 and led 2014 club by 30 ... Only player in Bengals history to log three sacks and one INT in a game ... Has played in every Bengals game (regular season and postseason) since start of 2011 season ... Captain of the 2016 special teams.
In his sixth Bengals season in 2016, Rey has made huge strides since signing with Bengals in ’10 as a college free agent ... Led 2015 team in tackles by a margin of 20 and led 2014 club by 30 ... Only player in Bengals history to log three sacks and one INT in a game ... Has played in every Bengals game (regular season and postseason) since start of 2011 season ... Captain of the 2016 special teams.
Career transactions: Signed with Cincinnati as college free agent on 4-30-10 ... Waived by Bengals on 9-4-10 ... Signed to Bengals practice squad on 9-5-10 ... Signed to Bengals roster on 12-8-10 ... Re-signed with Bengals on 3-12-12 ... Re-signed with Bengals as exclusive-rights player on 4-3-13 ... Re-signed with Bengals as restricted free agent on 3-15-14 ... Re-signed with Bengals as unrestricted free agent on 3-10-16.
2016 highlights: Has played in Games 1-4, with three starts ... Second on team in tackles (23), and has one pass defensed ... Nine tackles Sept. 11 at N.Y. Jets ... Six tackles Sept. 18 at Pittsburgh ... Seven tackles Sept. 25 vs. Denver ... One tackle and a pass defensed Sept. 29 vs. Miami.
Previous seasons: 2010—Opened rookie season on practice squad, and signed to roster the week of Game 13 ... Inactive for Games 13-14, and played in Games 15-16 ... Made NFL debut Dec. 26 vs. San Diego, recording two special teams tackles. 2011—Finished fifth on special teams with nine tackles ... Had two special teams tackles Sept. 11 at Cleveland, Oct. 16 vs. Indianapolis and Oct. 30 at Seattle. 2012—Made one start and had 18 tackles, one sack and one pass defensed for season ... His 12 special teams tackles ranked third on team ... Started Sept. 16 vs. Cleveland at WLB, replacing injured Thomas Howard, and finished second on team in tackles (nine) ... Led special teams with three tackles on both Dec. 30 vs. Baltimore and in Wild Card playoff on 1-5-13 at Houston. 2013—Played Games 1-16 and Wild Card playoff, starting Games 9-11, replacing injured MLB Rey Maualuga ... Had 54 tackles on defense, after entering year with just 18 in career ... Third on team in special teams tackles (11) ... Had four sacks, two INTs (one returned for TD), a forced fumble, four passes defensed, and tied for second on team in tackles-for-loss (seven) ... Oct. 6 vs. New England, stopped RB LeGarrette Blount for no gain on first-and-goal play from one in fourth quarter, and defense went on to hold Patriots to FG ... Had two tackles on the four plays of a goal-line stand Oct. 13 at Buffalo ... Details on his three-sack, one-INT performance Nov. 10 at Baltimore are in previous item (“The only one”) ... Set up game’s first score Dec. 22 vs. Minnesota, with a sack-and-strip of Matt Cassel, and returned second quarter INT 25 yards for his first career TD. 2014—Played every game, and started Games 3-4, 8-16 and the Wild Card playoff as replacement for injured Vontaze Burfict ... Started Games 6-7 in place of injured Rey Maualuga ... Led team in tackles (121) by a margin of 30 ... Led team or tied for team lead in tackles in each of last seven games ... Had team’s three highest single-game tackle totals ... Started at MLB on Oct.19 at Indianapolis and posted team season-high in tackles (16) ... Led led team with 12 tackles on Nov. 16 at New Orleans, and with 10 on Nov. 23 at Houston ... Led team with 15 tackles Dec. 7 vs. Pittsburgh, and also had a pass defensed ... Led team with 11 tackles in playoff-clinching win Dec. 22 vs. Denver ... Led team with 11 tackles in Wild Card playoff on 1-4-15 at Indianapolis, and had a forced fumble against RB Dan Herron (Colts recovered). 2015—Played in Games 1-16, with eight starts ... His 95 tackles led team by 20 ... Also recorded one INT, one sack, two special teams tackles, and five total passes defensed (tied for front-seven lead) ... Nine tackles (led front seven) on Sept. 13 at Oakland ... Had the game-clinching INT on Sept. 20 vs. San Diego, out-leaping Chargers WR Malcolm Floyd late in the fourth quarter, and also had four tackles ... Team-best eight tackles on Sept. 27 at Baltimore ... Led team with 15 tackles (team season-high) on Oct. 4 vs. Kansas City ... Continued his strong play Oct. 11 vs. Seattle, recording a team-high 13 tackles and a pass defensed ... On Oct. 18 at Buffalo, left game in third quarter with ankle strain but still finished second on team in tackles (eight) ... On Nov. 1 at Pittsburgh led team in tackles (eight) and had a pass defensed ... On Nov. 5 vs. Cleveland, tied for team lead in tackles (five) and added a pass defensed ... Four tackles Nov. 16 vs Houston, including an eight-yard sack of T.J. Yates in fourth quarter ... Six tackles Nov. 29 vs. St. Louis ... Five tackles Dec. 13 vs. Pittsburgh ... Two tackles and a pass defensed in Wild Card playoff on 1-9-16 vs. Pittsburgh.
The only one: In the Bengals’ franchise total of 740 regular-season games and 19 postseason contests, Rey is the only Cincinnati player to log an INT and as many as three sacks in a game. He did it on Nov. 10, 2013 at Baltimore. In the second quarter, at the Cincinnati 31-yard line, he corralled a Joe Flacco pass and returned four yards to the 35. Later in the quarter, he had sacks against Flacco of one and 11 yards. And in the third quarter, he dropped Flacco for seven yards. All three sacks led directly to Baltimore punts, the first and third of them coming on third-down plays. For the game, Rey had 13 tackles on defense and two on special teams.
College: Played four seasons (2006-09) at Duke, seeing action in 48 games, with 35 starts ... A two-year team captain, he left Blue Devils ranked ninth in program history in tackles (330) ... Averaged 106 tackles per year over his last three seasons ... Set school record with three fumble returns for TDs, and also had 28 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and three INTs.
Personal: Hometown is Far Rockaway, N.Y. ... Attended Bayside High School, and later spent one season at Mercersburg (Pa.) Academy ... In 2009, earned a University Scholar Athlete award from the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame ... Enjoys bowling and movies ... Last name is pronounced “RAY.”
NOTE ABOUT NFL EXPERIENCE: Rey did not earn an accrued year of experience toward NFL free agency in 2010 because he was not on a 53-player roster, a Reserve/Injured list or a Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list for the required minimum of six games that season.
