Rey has made huge strides since signing in 2010 as a college free agent ... Has played in 98 consecutive regular-season games, second among all NFL LBs at conclusion of 2016 season ... Has also played in all five postseason games of his Bengals career ... Fourth on team in tackles in ’16, after leading team by wide margins in ’14 and ’15 ... Only player in Bengals history to log three sacks and one INT in a game ... Has not missed a Bengals game since making NFL debut in Game 15 of ’10 ... Captain of ’16 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.
The only one: In the Bengals’ franchise total of 756 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.
2016 general: Played in Games 1-16, with 12 starts ... Posted 79 tackles (fourth on team), one INT, one FR and seven passes defensed (tied for fourth) ... Also had seven special teams tackles ... Had team’s second-highest single-game tackle total of season on Nov. 14 at N.Y. Giants, logging 14.
2016 game-by-game: Nine tackles Sept. 11 at N.Y. Jets ... Six tackles Sept. 18 at Pittsburgh ... Seven tackles Sept. 25 vs. Denver ... On Oct. 9 at Dallas, returned a Dak Prescott fumble 10 yards to Bengals 41 in third quarter ... On Oct. 23 vs. Cleveland, intercepted a deflected Kevin Hogan pass in fourth quarter, returning six yards ... Six tackles Oct. 30 vs. Washington ... Posted 14 tackles, second most in a game on the team, on Nov. 14 at N.Y. Giants ... Eight tackles Nov. 20 vs. Buffalo ... Seven tackles and two passes defensed Dec. 24 at Houston ... Seven tackles and a pass defensed Jan. 1 vs. Baltimore.
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 at Houston. 2013—Played Games 1-16 and Wild Card playoff, starting Games 9-11 as replacement for 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 and two INTs (one returned for TD), and tied for second on team in tackles-for-loss (seven) ... On 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—Led team in tackles (121) by a margin of 30 ... Played every game, and started 11 as Rey Maualuga and Vontaze Burfict missed time due to injuries ... Started Wild Card playoff at Houston as replacement for Burfict ... Led team or tied for team lead in tackles in each of last seven games ... Had team’s three highest single-game tackle totals ... On Oct.19 at Indianapolis, 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 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 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, and his five total passes defensed, including one INT, tied for front-seven lead ... Had game-clinching INT on Sept. 20 vs. San Diego, out-leaping Chargers WR Malcolm Floyd late in fourth quarter ... Team-best eight tackles 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 Nov. 1 at Pittsburgh led team in tackles (eight) and had a pass defensed ... On Nov. 16 vs Houston, logged eight-yard sack of T.J. Yates ... Six tackles Nov. 29 vs. St. Louis ... Two tackles and a pass defensed in Wild Card playoff vs. Pittsburgh.
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 ... Earned sociology degree from Duke, and in 2009 earned a University Scholar-Athlete award from National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame ... Married (wife Noel) with a daughter (Talia) ... Enjoys community work, bowling and watching 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.
