The Bengals have found themselves thinner than expected at backup tight end, and that’s pushed rookie Jack Endries into the spotlight sooner than anyone planned. Cincinnati appeared set up nicely at the spot, but a run of injuries has forced the team to reach deeper into the depth chart.
Endries is the name now at the front of that line. A rookie out of Texas, he lasted until the seventh round even though he was expected to hear his name called much earlier. That gives him an opening, and also a chance to prove the people who passed on him got it wrong.
There’s plenty riding on how he handles it, too. Endries came into the picture with a reputation that suggested he could eventually be a Mike Gesicki replacement, but the Bengals may need him to cover a different job right now.
He’ll be asked to help with the role Noah Fant played last year and that Erick All Jr. was handling this season. That isn’t exactly the cleanest fit for his projected skill set, so the key question is how much work he put into learning that assignment over the offseason and into this year.
Cincinnati’s preparation for Sunday also comes with the usual trap-game warning label. Tennessee may look like an easier opponent on paper, but that’s never how these things play out if a team starts assuming too much. There are still plenty of people in Tennessee who will be playing for their football lives the rest of the season.
Even with the Titans trading their star defensive tackle, the Bengals still need to treat this like a real test. The move may have eased some pressure and dropped the odds of Joe Burrow taking hits, but it doesn’t change the basic assignment: show up ready to play and don’t let a potentially dangerous opponent turn the afternoon into something messy.
That’s part of why so many around the league are backing Cincinnati. The Bengals have a Top 5 scoring offense, while the Titans are near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories. Still, there’s a little discomfort in how lopsided the expert picks have been.
As for Ja’Marr Chase, he sounds fine with other playmakers getting theirs. The biggest difference, as the source notes, is that the team is winning most of its games.
If Cincinnati were sitting at 2-4, the mood would probably be different. Instead, the way defenses are trying to take Chase away may end up helping the offense as a whole.
There’s also been some chatter around the Bengals’ offensive line, and not everyone is buying the criticism. The line has already shown it can get physical, and the source points to the way it handled Dexter Lawrence in a previous matchup. That makes the doubts sound a little forced, even if the outside noise keeps rolling in.
In Other News...
Bengals Trade Deadline Debate Just Got Much Bigger Than Running Back
The trade deadline conversation around the Bengals has started to widen beyond the obvious running back chatter, even with marquee names like Jonathan Taylor and Saquon Barkley floating around the market. Cincinnatis interest in upgrading the backfield is understandable given Chase Browns uneven production, but the bigger question is whether a splashy move at that spot fits the way this front office usually operates.
For a team that has tended to lean draft-heavy in building its roster, the more practical fix may be elsewhere on the roster. The Bengals could use help in several spots, and the argument is growing that reinforcements on defense or up front might do more for the stretch run than chasing a high-profile runner. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Trade Buzz Is Zeroing In On A Much More Realistic RB Move
The Bengals search for backfield help has started to sound a lot more practical as the NFL trade deadline approaches, and the name drawing the most attention is a veteran runner who could give Cincinnati immediate stability. The idea is less about chasing a splashy headline and more about finding a proven piece who can slide into the rotation with Chase Brown and help balance an offense that could use another reliable option on the ground.
What makes this possibility appealing is the combination of production and price. Compared with the bigger-name backs who tend to dominate deadline chatter, this is the kind of move that fits a team looking for help without overcommitting long term, especially with an expiring deal in play. Nothing is confirmed yet, but the buzz is clearly pointing toward a more realistic type of upgrade if Cincinnati decides to act. [Read more 🡒]
Jessie Bates Just Reopened A Painful Bengals What-If
Jessie Bates departure from Cincinnati in 2023 still lingers as one of those roster decisions that never really goes away. The Bengals chose not to offer him a multi-year contract, instead using their salary cap space elsewhere, and Bates has handled the business side of it with the same calm he showed on the field. Even so, his exit left a hole at safety that Cincinnati has spent the last couple of seasons trying to patch.
Bryan Cook was brought in to help stabilize that spot, but the larger issue remains the same: the Bengals have not found a clean replacement for what Bates brought. And while the move made sense in the moment from a cap-management standpoint, it has only sharpened the sense that this was one of those franchise crossroads that can be revisited for years. [Read more 🡒]