The Bengals are heading into their first AFC North fight of the 2026 season with another name added to the injury report, and this one hits a position group that was already set for a bigger role.
Zac Taylor said third wide receiver Andrei Iosivas tore a ligament in his thumb during the Texans game and is now on injured reserve after surgery. Iosivas has to miss at least four games, though there’s no firm timetable for when he’ll be back. That opens the door for Dohnte Meyers and Colbie Young to step into more work.
"Unfortunate for him," Taylor said about Iosivas before touching on Hill and noting Burrow is sore again this week. "B.J.
Hill will continue to work him through the week and see where he ends up for this game. As we manage him, Jonathan Allen could be out today, management, and I think that was it.
If there are any other questions about the guys, you can let me know."
The timing matters because Cincinnati is one of eight undefeated teams left and trying to stay on top of the AFC North by itself this week. The Bengals have done it while taking on the kind of physical test that can wear a team down early, and they’ll need to keep navigating that without losing more bodies along the way.
Joe Burrow’s back is still part of the conversation, too. He may be limited this week, or he may not, but he came out of the Week 2 win over Houston sounding confident about where he stands physically.
"Yeah, I'm good to go. It's a little sore after the game, but no problems.
There are a lot of people across this league playing with tight backs. No big deal," Burrow noted.
"I want to do that every week, I want to do that every day. I love this game.
I love what I do. I love who I do it with.
I just want to be out there with the guys, and nothing is going to stop me from doing that."
That’s the balancing act for Cincinnati right now: stay healthy while still grinding through a season that can turn into a war of attrition fast. Through two games, this team has already shown it can win in different ways. The next step is turning that into week-to-week consistency and chemistry.
There’s reason for optimism beyond the record, too. Cincinnati has the easiest remaining schedule and a defense that looks like it can stand shoulder to shoulder with the offense as another top-10 unit.
So far, the numbers back that up. The Bengals are first in sacks with eight, tied for second in offensive touchdowns allowed with two, tied for first in passing touchdowns allowed with zero, third in rush yards allowed per game at 74.5, and tied for third in takeaways with four.
Taylor also pointed to what the early-season reps against strong fronts can do for Burrow and the offense. He said the tests they’ve already faced are useful, and the work should keep paying off.
"No different than this week," Taylor said about the great defensive fronts his team has faced so far. "This week's going to be very similar.
So again, it's good for our guys to see. And I thought, Joe, you know, the movement, the pocket early in the year.
Sometimes it takes some reps versus a live rush where you can really be tackled to kind of gain that. I saw some of that from him, especially there second, third, fourth quarter, which is encouraging to see this early in the season.
And I think that gives him a lot of confidence that he's already at that spot where he can create some plays."
For Cincinnati, the formula is clear: keep the health situation from getting worse, lean on the defense, and let Burrow keep building after a strong start.
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