Soft Benching
Benching a player without criticizing their play
Example
Did you see why Jordan barely played tonight?
Yeah, they said he ‘pulled a muscle,’ but he’s fine
Sounds like a soft benching to me
Soft benching definition by Slang.net - The Slang Dictionary
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Soft benching is a sports term for when a coach benches a player under the guise of an injury, illness, or other excuse, rather than openly acknowledging that the player isn't performing well. In this situation, the player isn’t officially punished, but they are given less playing time or sidelined without being told the full reason.
While the term has existed in sports communities for years, the phrase gained wider use in the 2010s as fans and commentators discussed lineup decisions on social media and sports forums. For example, fans often use soft benching on Twitter (also known as "X") to criticize or poke fun at a coach's decision to bench a player when they suspect something else is going on. The term is common in various team sports, including football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer.