A player cut from the Cincinnati Bengals at the weekend has been re-signed by the team so that he can pay for his four-year-old daughter's cancer treatment.

Defensive tackle Devon Still, 25, said he understood why he was dropped from the 53-man roster because, since learning in June that his daughter Leah has stage 4 pediatric cancer, he has struggled to concentrate on his game.

'My whole world turned upside down,' he told ABC News.

But after failing to make the team on Saturday, the Bengals brought him on to the practice squad instead, which means he will still get paid and receive health insurance.

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'Blessing in disguise': Bengals defensive tackle Devon Still, left during a 2012 game, failed to make the team last weekend but was signed to the practice team so he still gets health insurance for his daughter, right

'They could have washed their hands with me and said they didn't care about what I was going through off the field,' Still said. 'It's like a blessing in disguise for me.'

The move means that he will receive a weekly salary of $6,300, will have to travel less and get to spend more time with Leah, who is being treated in Philadelphia.

The support from the Bengals - which includes allowing Still to miss Sunday's game in Baltimore - comes after he was out of six games last season for injuries to his elbow and back.

Speaking with Bengals.com, he explained: 'They said if I keep working on my physical... and mentally prepared myself to focus on football then they can move me back up to the roster so I am not all the way out of the loop...

'Just them sticking by me through this whole time, they understand exactly what I am going through. It is a blessing I am on this organization.'

Fighter: Four-year-old Leah was diagnosed with stage 4 pediatric cancer in June. Last week, Still shared this image of her, right, as she prepared for her fourth round of chemotherapy in Philadelphia

Close: Still said he was thankful the team did not just wash their hands of him after a poor performance

Support: Still, who is pictured with his fiancee, was a second-round pick for the Bengals in 2012

On ABC, Michael Strahan called it a 'classy, classy' move by the team.

Ever since Leah's diagnosis, Still has shared images on Instagram showing her dancing in the hospital and grinning as she headed back for her fourth round of chemotherapy last week.

The proud father, who is engaged, has also shaved his head in support of his daughter, who has lost her hair to her treatment.

Still, who was born in New Jersey and attended Penn State, was considered one of the best defensive tackle prospects in 2012 and was picked in the second round of the draft.