There aren’t a ton of interesting story lines heading into this week’s game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Jets. The Bengals are using a 40-year old quarterback to build off of an impressive win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last week…and that’s about it.
The big stories are actually the injuries. Who is even going to be playing? There are a few impact players whose health situations will/should have an impact on this game.
The big one for the Bengals is, of course, defensive end Trey Hendrickson. The Bengals defense stinks even when it has Hendrickson out there, so missing the NFL’s reigning sack leader is quite a big deal.
Hendrickson was limited at practice on Thursday with a hip injury and appears to have a real chance to play on Sunday. Facing the Jets surely makes anyone want to lick their lips and get out on the field.
Which quarterback will the Cincinnati Bengals face?
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: The Jets have an awful quarterback situation again. Justin Fields got benched last week as the Jets lost their seventh-straight game to start the 2025 season. It’s one thing to start off 0-7, it’s another for the team owner to come out and publicly say that his quarterback is hot garbage.
“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that he’s got,” Woody Johnson said this week. “I mean, he has ability, but something just is not jiving. If we can just complete a pass, it would look good.”
And Bengals’ fans complain about the Brown family? Mike would never say something that stupid and inappropriate.
As of right now, the Jets still don’t know who the starter will be against the Bengals in Cincinnati on Sunday. Fields got benched for Tyrod Taylor, but Taylor has been limited with a knee injury this week and has been splitting first-team reps in practice.
“I have no anticipation for it,” Taylor said when he was asked what he thinks will happen this week. “My mind and my sole focus is being available and ready to be able to lead this team when called upon.”
Head coach Aaron Glenn has listed Taylor as “day-to-day,” so we’ll see what happens.
Sauce Gardner injury could affect the Cincinnati Bengals
The injury that I would want to know about the most as a Bengals fans would be Jets’ cornerback Sauce Gardner. Gardner has been an elite corner in the NFL, but if he’s anything like anyone else associated with the Jets, he’d just like to curl up in a ball and die. This moribund franchise does little to make a player want to get out there and fight through an injury for the ol’ green and white.
In Gardner’s case, it won’t be his decision as to whether he’ll able to play against the Bengals because he’s dealing with a concussion.
If he is able to play it could dramatically alter how the Bengals utilize wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. If Gardner suits up he’ll likely shadow Chase all over the field.
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