The Bengals continue to take shots on the injury front, and they moved quickly after backup linebacker Swayze Bozeman broke his forearm during Sunday's 31-24 win in Miami.
On Monday, they claimed off waivers from the Jaguars, second-year linebacker Jack Kiser, and put him on the active roster when Bozeman went to injured reserve.
They also fear tight end Tanner Hudson, one of quarterback Joe Burrow's favorite targets, has a serious issue with his pectoral muscle after his two big catches put the Bengals up 21-7 in their last drive of the first half.
Head coach Zac Taylor says they're getting more information on Hudson, a valuable piece who was graded the Bengals' top offensive player by Pro Football Focus Sunday.
Even if they put Hudson on injured reserve, they'll most likely turn to an internal solution in seventh-rounder Jack Endries, who has played in two games with one offensive snap and 19 on special teams.
Kiser, in the middle of Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden's system at Notre Dame, played a school-record 70 games during six years at South Bend while changing positions, earning a master's, and leading the Fighting Irish to a national title game.
Kiser was at the 2025 Senior Bowl when Golden was put in charge of the Bengals defense and told Bengals.com Golden was the reason he was at the Mobile, Ala., all-star game. It was Golden who moved the 6-2, 231-pound Kiser from outside to inside and running the show.
"It was NFL film, it was NFL drills. That's what we were doing out here," Kiser said. "A wizard at breaking down defenses and expecting what's next."
Kiser was a fourth-round pick of the Jags last year, and played 43 snaps from scrimmage and 193 on special teams in 14 games with 14 tackles in a season cut short by a hamstring injury. He was released at the cutdown this past training camp and went to the practice squad before they put him on the active roster for the second game of the season.
He didn't play in the next three games and when the Jags released him Saturday to maybe put him back on the practice squad, the Bengals pounced with Bozeman shelved.
With the Jags staying in London for another game after beating the Eagles over there Sunday, Kiser has a haul to Cincinnati. He did grow up 200 miles from Paycor Stadium in Royal Center, Ind.
Bozeman, who made a key block on wide receiver Dohnte Meyers' 81-yard kick return that opened the game Sunday, broke his arm on one of his 10 special teams snaps. He's a core guy for special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons with 224 snaps and four tackles while playing one snap on defense.
Under center, shotgun, 54 passes, 31 runs, winless teams, good teams, at Paycor, on the road, it just doesn't seem to matter.
As his running game racked up a season-high 31 attempts for 117 rushing yards Sunday, Burrow offered 190 passing yards, his fewest since last year's opener in Cleveland. For only the 12th time in the 79 starts he's finished, he threw for 190 yards or fewer.
But it hasn't been disastrous. The Bengals are 8-4 in those games, and by completing 72% of his passes (23-32), he keeps his hold on this season's NFL lead in completion percentage (71.4%) and the all-time lead with 68.6%.
"Just look at the four touchdown passes (Sunday) and I think we did a good job getting guys in spots to exploit the coverages in those spots," said offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher on Monday. "The ball's exactly where it needs to be, exactly when it needs to be there.
"That's really Joe's calling card. It's see it, process it, distribute it, and put the ball exactly where he wants to put it even when the defender's in close quarters. And you saw that on full display (Sunday). I think Joe's playing really well. There's probably areas of his game, just like there's areas of our game as an offense, that he'd like to improve."
According to Pro Football Reference, Burrow is keeping pace with his career year of 2024, when he led the league in touchdown passes and passing yards. He goes into the bye week with 11 touchdown passes, one shy of his 12 in the first five games of '24 and just two behind NFL leader Brock Purdy. He has 1,361 yards, fifth in the league and nine behind what he had in 2024 after five games. His rating was 113.6 in '24 and 104.4 now.
But he'll take this season's record. They were 1-4 in '24 and they're 3-2 with Burrow taking what they give him. The starkest difference is the 7.2 yards per attempt compared to the 7.9 of '24, but Pitcher trusts Burrow's balance of pushing it downfield, but not risking it deep.
"We completed one deep one. We had another one that we tried down the right sideline. We got out of several passes that, unless you're in the booth here in the play call, you would never know that we got out of a pass that was trying to go down the field," Pitcher said of the Sunday calls. "The look wasn't there that we needed for that pass. So we checked to a run, or we checked to a different pass, and that's part of quarterbacking and that's part of playing the game intelligently."
The completion percentage is right there with the 2026 NFL-leading 71.4 compared to the first five games of 2024 at 72.3. According to John Sheeran of A to Z Sports, Sunday was Burrow's 38th game with a completion percentage of 70% or higher, tying him with Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Tua Tagovailoa for the most 70% games in the first seven seasons. Tagovailoa, at 68.0, is second on the all-time list behind Burrow.
Burrow has a bigger number in mind than 68.6%.
"I'd like to finish up above 70 when it's all said and done," Burrow told Bengals.com last season.
In his first five games out of the CFL, Meyers has proven to be true weapon. And it seems like in every game he has a play where he very nearly breaks it all the way.
On Sunday, that was the opening kick return, where Miami cornerback Jaylin Simspn dragged him down on the left sideline at the Miami 10.
"It's like every week there's a tease," Meyers said. "Sooner or later, it's going to pop. It looked good, though."
Meyers can't ever remember being caught from behind. Ever. "That doesn't happen." He thinks it's part of the education of his first year in the NFL with faster players and a narrower field.
"I saw (Simpson). I peeked after I got around the kicker," Meyers said. "That's what I mean about adjusting to the league and the field. Making sure I'm keen on angles and just being able to stretch the last ten yards. I should have made it tighter so I had wider room, so I had more space to run away."
Running back Samaje Perine was the MVP as the rushing leader with 68 yards on 14 carries, converted one third down on a touchdown catch, and two others on runs. But his biggest play may have been his first one when he gave Meyers an alley.
"That's the block I read," Meyers said. "A tried and true veteran."
So maybe the bye's not too early this week. The best of byes, and there have been many in the eight seasons of the Zac Taylor Era, have been a month away at about mid-season.
When the Bengals broke Monday, Taylor had another take as they came off their hottest road game in history and star wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are banged up.
After bathing in the hottest October game in Hard Rock Stadium history, Taylor, the Dolphins quarterbacks coach for four years, admitted he forgot just how much the heat takes out of you.
"I think that was your gut reaction when you first saw (the schedule). When the bye was. Man, you kind of like it more towards Thanksgiving," Taylor said. "But I do think just where our team is right now and the way that these last three games have gone down to the wire and guys playing through some stuff right now, it is a good time to get the bye and get our legs back underneath us, get some guys healthy, and go full force when we come back for Baltimore." …
When they return next Monday, they prep for the Oct. 25 game in the Joe Burrow time slot at 1 p.m. after four straight prime-timers in the Charm City. The last time the Bengals played at M&T Bank Stadium at 1 p.m., Burrow (416 yards) and Chase (201) had their Calling Card Game in 2022 …
Perine, usually the complementary back to Chase Brown, had one more carry and 29 more yards than Brown on Sunday. But don't look for a shakeup.
"I think we'll continually assess how that touch share between he and Chase Brown should play out. Every game's different. What type of scheme we lean into is going to factor into that," Pitcher said. "What we ran more of yesterday leans into what Samaje does well, which is get downhill and run through contact." …
How tough is right guard Dalton Risner? He hasn't missed a snap since hurting his knee at the end of the Pittsburgh game two weeks ago, and PFF rated him the offense's second-best player Sunday.
He also was a factor in Burrow 's now iconic 45-yard touchdown pass to Chase. They moved the pocket with Risner pulling to help out left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. on Chop Robinson.
"You're getting really double-teams across the board. There's only one guy that's singled out, but you're trying to get three double-teams," Taylor said. "Especially if they're rushing four, you can help a lot of people there and create depth and space for Joe, allow three receivers to get down the field. It's been one that's worked well for us in the past. Certainly worked well for us yesterday on that one play." …
Brown and right tackle Amarius Mims allowed just three pressures between them (per Pro Football Focus) in Miami on a day Burrow didn't get sacked …
Mims missed three plays because he had another shoe issue, as did earlier in the season. That's tough on the heart of an offensive coordinator as Pitcher is now wondering about the 40 time of equipment ace Sam Staley.
"I've got to think he might be able to work some type of shoe deal out of this thing," Pitcher said. "It's never fun when somebody comes over the headset and says his shoe broke again, and you're just praying to God that Sam Staley or whoever the hell was running to get the shoe runs fast." …
Old friend Trey Hendrickson, who won a sack title with the Bengals, lines up against them in Baltimore. He's missed the last two games, but the Bengals fully expect him to play. They know he'll be relentless, as always. But especially relentless.
"That's certainly the assumption I'm operating under. I would be disappointed if we got anything less from Trey. I'm sure we won't," Pitcher said as he described the most dangerous elements of his game.
"He's got excellent get-off, speed to power. He just has a relentlessness, and a nose for finding the quarterback in the pocket. We felt that for several training camps playing against him. Obviously, we watched him do it to opponents a lot over the course of time. He's a technician that has all the physical tools to be a premier pass rusher." …