DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans
DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans
DeMeco Ryans and the Houston Texans are certainly not in the business of giving players away, but they were powerless when it came to Mitchell Tinsley.
“A return: Bengals are signing WR Mitch Tinsley off the Texans practice squad and on to their active roster,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported in a post on X on September 29. “Tinsley was in Cincinnati’s camp this summer, but signed with Houston’s practice squad. And now he is back.”
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The Bengals, of course, defeated the Texans in Week 2.
Tinsley, 27, did not get into that contest, and the 6-foot-1, 205-pound former undrafted free agent’s insight obviously did not help the Texans much if at all.
Now he heads back to where it all began for him in the NFL. In his fourth NFL season, Tinsley has eight receptions for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns. But Tinsley’s familiarity with the Bengals undoubtedly makes him more valuable to them than he was to the Texans.
Texans Lose Mitchell Tinsley as WR Makes ‘Obvious Move’ Back to Bengals
Like the Texans, the Bengals are banged up and short-handed at wide receiver, sparking a need for Tinsley. They placed WR3 Andrei Iosivas on injured reserve, while head coach Zac Taylor announced that Colbie Young would likely miss Week 4 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“If not for the emergence of Dohnte Meyers and drafting of Colbie Young, Tinsley would have been a part of the #Bengals WR rotation just as he was last year,” The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. posted on X in reaction to Schefter’s report. “With Iosivas and Young hurt this becomes the obvious, smoothest move.”
Bengals Talk’s Jay Morrison posted, “Seemed like an obvious move the second Colbie Young went out.”
Tinsley did not have to accept the Bengals’ offer, though that would have been rare.
Nevertheless, he gets an immediately more promising situation, and the Bengals bolster their WR room with a familiar face. The Texans are not exactly light on receivers, and they could get two-time Pro Bowler Nico Collins back this week against the Dallas Cowboys.
Still, the Texans chose Tinsley among the options they explored for their room, so losing him like this was clearly not part of their planning.