Bengals' Atkins named to Pro Bowl

Bengals DT Geno Atkins has been named to a roster spot for the Pro Bowl, the NFL announced today. Atkins, a third alternate in December's Pro Bowl voting, replaces Detroit DT Ndamukong Suh, who is unable to participate due to an injury.

The addition of Atkins gives the Bengals three players in the Pro Bowl, as WR A.J. Green and P Kevin Huber were voted in directly.

The game will be played Sun., Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., and will be televised nationally by ESPN.

Atkins was a fifth-year NFL player in 2014, all with the Bengals, and this is his third selection to the Pro Bowl. He was voted in for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. In 2014, he came back from a major knee injury (ACL tear) that had cut short his 2013 season. For both the 2012 and 2013 seasons, Atkins earned first-team berths on major NFL All-Pro teams. His 12.5 sacks in 2012 led all NFL interior linemen by a wide margin.

This past season, Atkins started every game and totaled 34 tackles, 3.0 sacks (second on team), eight tackles-for-loss (ranked second) and seven QB hits (third). He had an additional shared sack in Cincinnati's Wild Card playoff game at Indianapolis.

For the second consecutive year, the Pro Bowl will be "unconferenced." Instead of the AFC vs. NFC matchup that was previously the format, players were selected without regard to conference in voting by fans, coaches and players. Players will be assigned to opposing teams during the 2015 Pro Bowl Draft on NFL Network on Wed., Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. The teams will be known as Team Carter and Team Irvin, after Hall of Fame wide receivers Cris Carter and Michael Irvin, who will serve as alumni team captains and head the draft selection process for each of their squads.

(Cincinnati Bengals press release)