Cincinnati Bengals Blown Out By Indianapolis Colts In Preseason Finale | Podcast, Recap, Highlights

Craig Sandlin and Mike Hart will be live after the game!

The Cincinnati Bengals will host the Indianapolis Colts for their preseason finale on Saturday, August 23, at 1:00 p.m. ET, with both teams expected to rest their starting quarterbacks and feature primarily third and fourth-string players to avoid injuries. The Colts’ Riley Leonard is slated to start at quarterback for Indianapolis, while the Bengals will likely see extended action from Jake Browning. This game is a final opportunity for players on the roster bubble to prove their worth before final cuts, but depth chart battles, rather than high-level play, will likely define the exhibition.

Key Storylines

Roster Evaluation:
With starters out, the focus is on depth players vying for spots on the final 53-man roster. Rookies and players competing for backup roles will get significant playing time.

Injury Avoidance:
Both teams are prioritizing health, with stars like Joe Burrow and Anthony Richardson sidelined to prevent injuries before the regular season.

Quarterback Battle:
Colts rookie Riley Leonard is expected to get a lengthy look, with Jake Browning likely the primary signal-caller for the Bengals, according to Sports Illustrated and DraftKings Network.

Offensive Momentum:
For the Colts, receivers Adonai Mitchell and Alec Pierce are looking to build on positive preseason performances as they head into the regular season while Mitchell Tinsley looks to solidify his spot on the 53-man roster for the Bengals after a breakout performance against the Commanders.

How to Watch
Date: Saturday, August 23, 2025
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Paycor Stadium
TV: ESPN unlmtd

CHATTERBOX LINKS:

Check out more of these Reds, Bengals and FC Cincinnati videos on Chatterbox Sports:
– Two Amateurs Challenge Head Pro at Sharon Woods Golf Course! – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqQI6UWIFUI
– Bengals vs. Eagles Preseason Week 1: Top Cincinnati Players to Watch Ft. Joe Burrow! – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M-TUhYP5Qo
– FC Cincinnati: Best Brazilian to play in the MLS? | New striker joins FCC – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4nRgw7cY1s

Chatterbox Reds: https://linktr.ee/chatterboxreds
The Flyin Lion (FC Cincinnati): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-flyin-lion-fc-cincinnati-podcast/id1701368522
Chatterbox Bengals: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chatterbox-bengals-a-cincinnati-bengals-nfl-podcast/id1652732141
West 4th and Long: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/west-4th-and-long/id1828384424
Chatterbox Bearcats: https://chatterboxbearcats.podbean.com/
The Chatter Podcast: https://queencitychatter.podbean.com/
Chatterbox Store: https://www.chatterboxsports.com/store
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cboxsports
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cboxsports/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CBoxSports
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cboxsports

The Gangs Socials –

X: https://x.com/stoneshields_
X: https://x.com/ReidMausRadio
X: https://x.com/etrain513
X: https://x.com/CBoxCasey
X: https://x.com/CBoxTrace
X: https://x.com/Nicholaspkirby
X: https://x.com/Craig_Sandlin

#Bengals #BengalsRumors #BengalsvsColts Cincinnati Bengals, Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Chase Brown, Amarius Mims, Orlando Brown, Dylan Fairchild, Mitchell Tinsley, Tycen Anderson, Daijahn Anthony, Jordan Battle, Tahj Brooks, Jake Browning, Taven Bryan, Oren Burks, Jermaine Burton, Barrett Carter, Howard Cross, Noah Fant, Cody Ford, Mike Gesicki, Trey Hendrickson, Shaka Heyward, BJ Hill, Dax Hill, Tanner Hudson, Andrei Iosivas, DJ Ivey, McKinnley Jackson, Kris Jenkins, Cedric Johnson, Charlie Jones, PJ Jules, Ted Karras, Jaxson Kirkland, Demetrius Knight, Matt Lee, Tanner McLaughlin, Evan McPherson, Kendall Milton, Myles Murphy, Josh Newton, Maema Njongmeta, Joseph Ossai, Lucas Patrick, Samaje Perine, Kendric Pryor, Andrew Raym, Ryan Rehkow, Desmond Ridder, Jalen Rivers, Cam Sample, Drew Sample, TJ Slaton, Shemar Stewart, Geno Stone, Cam Taylor-Britt, DJ Turner, Cordell Volson, Isaiah Williams, Logan Wilson, Marco Wilson, Zac Taylor, Al Golden, Dan Pitcher, Scott Peters, Troy Walters, Jerry Montgomery, Darrin Simmons.

All [Music] [Music] right, welcome in Chatterbox Bengals preseason finale edition. edition. Colts and Bengals just wrapped up what was I’ll call an ugly uh effort out of the Bengals. 41-4 your final. Bengals offense unable to really get a whole lot going in this one. Uh but zero starters playing uh at this point, Mike. Uh Zack Taylor feels good about where he is, at least at the top of his depth chart. uh opts to give those guys the week off after having them play in the first two preseason weeks and uh really at this point allow the battle for depth positions to play out. Uh initial reactions to the 41-4 loss at the hands of the Colts. Yeah, it’s it’s tough when it’s basically a glorified scrimmage. My my 5-year-old son was explaining to me why or was asking me why I was not more upset that the Bengals were losing by so much. And so I’m like trying to explain to him. I was like, “Well, it’s a preseason game, so it doesn’t really matter.” He’s like, “So, it’s a scrimmage.” It’s like, “No, it’s still really a game, but um yeah, hard to feel hard to feel too much about it.” Obviously, you don’t you don’t love the effort that uh a lot of the backups or the backups gave out there today. I think there were some bright spots and there were some things that we’ll be able to do it, but I don’t I don’t imagine too many people that played today will be making the roster unfortunately. So, or fortunately, I guess in our in our um uh case. So, hopefully um you feel good about your um you feel good about your starters, your first string, your second string. I’ll tell you what, um I know there’s Trey Hendrickson still hanging out there, but offensively it it it just feels like it’s it’s the best it’s or the the smoothest it’s looked in such a long time. And you know, you’re just really excited going into Cleveland on what you can do offensively. Now, defensively, I think it’s a different story and I’m sure we’ll talk about that a little bit later, but um from what we’ve seen from Joe Burrow and the first stringers, uh you know, you got to be happy with what you saw overall this this preseason. Yeah, I think at I think at the top of the depth chart, there’s no doubt that you’re pretty happy with what you were able to see this preseason. Uh certainly room for improvement, but at the end of the day, I think those conversations were solidified. I don’t think there was a whole lot of discussion around the top of the depth chart, but as you move down, I think there’s definitely depth conversations to be had. Figure out exactly who fills out this 53man roster. Bengals have until Tuesday to make those final decisions. uh as Tuesday is cut day, have to get down to 53 men on the official roster, of course. Then they’ll fill out their practice squad from there before they head to Cleveland uh for opening week. Let’s run through real quick how we got to 4114. Uh Colts started with a elongated drive to start the game, ended up with a 40-yard field goal after a fiveminute plus drive. Um but then later on in the first quarter got it the first touchdown of the game a pick six from Desmond Ritter. Uh Daniel Scott took that 35 yd interception return to the house. Desmond Ritter then got the Bengals on the board early in the second quarter. That was a QB sneak from just a few inches out after a offsides uh penalty on the Colts negated a fourth down stop. The Colts then got a rushing touchdown from Ulissiz Bentley. And then after a turnover on downs, uh Riley Leonard found Lacoan Treadwell for a 59yd touchdown pass 30 seconds before halftime and it was 24-7. Ulisses Bentley found the touch the end zone again in the third quarter, a 12-y touchdown rush on that one. Jason Bean found Coleman Owen uh with two minutes left in the third quarter for a seven-yd touchdown pass to move the Colts lead to 38-7. Uh they would add a field goal in the fourth and then Quali Connley got a four-yd touchdown rush with 13 seconds left to give the Bengals the final 41-4 edge. Uh Colts win this one 4114. Bengals look now ahead to the game against Cleveland. That one is scheduled for September 7th at 100 p.m. on Fox. So Mike, let’s start with the obvious conversation here. Obviously, not a whole lot of starters playing today, but defensively you give up 41 points. Um 38 of those in the first three quarters, 24 at halftime. Uh definitely not the performance you were hoping for. I think there were some bright spots, some bright plays that stick out, but overall not an impressive showing from this Bengals depth at defense. Yeah, at defense it seems like we had a little bit more of the same. I know that um in in the previous games that we’ve seen so far, we’ve seen people um kind of just gash us for yards and and ultimately points. And it didn’t seem to matter that there was a fifth round rookie in there doing that. uh against us this time even though it was our backups. I think there was some good plays by somebody like PJ Juel um and and uh and he made a few good sticks in the hole but ultimately it was you know they were able to run for some larger uh sets each time and then obviously just people running free because of lack of pass rush. So, um, it’s unfortunate. I I it’s hard it’s hard to get worked up about this, but it what’s frustrating is that it seems like it’s more of the same, right? It’s more of what we’ve been what we were have been sawing with the first team and the second team. So, um, you know, I I understand Zach Taylor’s been saying, “Hey, we’re trying not to show anything.” And maybe even more so now because this is a first time or first time defensive coordinator. It’s a new system. So, I can I guess I understand how somebody that’s maybe has more of an established presence in a defensive formation would be less worried about that, right? Because it’s like, well, you got a bunch of tape on me already. But, um, so I guess I understand that, but, you know, it doesn’t it doesn’t maybe papers over some of the issues. It doesn’t paper over the lack of tackling or the uh, you know, lack of any pass rush at all. So, um, yeah, it’s it’s, uh, worrisome definitely. Uh, but we’ll see how that ends up going against a subpar offense in Cleveland. Joe Flacco at the Reigns. Well, we’ll see. We’ll see what it ends up being. But, um, you’re not, you know, that’s not Patrick Mahomes over there. So, hopefully, uh, the defense can get right and at least, uh, put up some good stops against, uh, uh, Cleveland offense. Yeah. Riley Leonard, you mentioned the fifth round pick out of Notre Dame, 15 of 20 for 189 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, got sacked once. Jason Bean, uh, 11 for 17, 107 yards, uh, one touchdown and one interception. That interception ended up being fumbled right back to the Colts by Howard Cross. But the biggest red flag for me is the same red flag that we had in the first two games, regardless of who was playing, and that’s the run defense. And Zack Taylor talked about we improve this pass defense and this pass rush by improving our run defense. And that’s why they went out and got TJ Sllayton, who obviously didn’t play today, but again today, uh, the Colts rattle off 35 rushes for 197 yards, an average of 5.6. Add in the two touchdowns that we talked about already. And when you stack that against a defense who last week against the Washington Commanders gave up 30 rushes for 185, an average of 6.2, two and then the week before that against the Philadelphia Eagles, they gave up 132 yards on the ground. Only four yards per rush, but still can’t be giving up four plus yards a pop. If you want to be a serious defense in this league and obviously if you’re giving up those yards defensively on the ground, then you turn around and you’re not going to be able to defend the pass uh because you have to stack the box in order to stop the rush. So, um that was the biggest struggle for me. Um, you know, guys like Howard Cross were expected to be able to come in and, uh, you know, solidify that defensive front. Didn’t necessarily feel that from him today. Saw some good pass rush from him a little bit later on in the game, but, um, didn’t necessarily feel the love on the rush defense personally. Um, and then obviously that that stacks up to the to the passing defense, which again, Laquan Treadwell burns you for six catches for 116 yards, including that 59 yard touchdown. Coleman Owen gets 5 for 60 in a touchdown. Anthony Gould goes four for 43. You know, as a whole, they’re averaging 11.4 yards per completion. I don’t think that’s good enough. Um, and certainly not going to be a a recipe for success for this Bengals team in 2025. And I know we didn’t I like uh run defense-wise like BJ Hill didn’t play um this preseason, TJ Sllayton, you know, it these are people that I think will be able to be, you know, have shown a good track record of being able to stop the run. Where I think I’m the most concerned though is in any depth at all. you know, BJ Hill has uh, you know, something that keeps him out for four games. We’re playing McKinley Jackson, Chris Chris Jenkins. You know, these are people that, you know, while still, um, you know, still have shown flashes, also shown a lot of getting gashed on the ground last year, too. So, um, you know, that that that’s something that I think comes with how this team was built where it’s just like when you got your guys in there, you feel okay about being able to at least do enough to, you know, uh, stop the run so that, you know, Joe can get the ball back in his hands um, quickly. But if one or two of them go down, then you’re really in a world of hurt because then like if if Howard Cross is having to play for us and take meaningful snaps, um, you know, we got a big issue, right? we got a we got a big problem um when it comes to uh the depth on this team. So, we’ll see. I I I think that you know there we haven’t seen it at full strength, but I I do worry when the eventual injuries do crop up what it’s going to look like. Yeah. And the other piece of it obviously is, you know, you didn’t have your starters playing anywhere. So, not even BJ Hill, but the linebacking room. And you know, Duke Tobin appeared on the broadcast um early on in the game and talked a little bit about how Al Golden came in and wanted to really transform this linebacker room. And um you know, they went out and added depth. They added starters. Uh they went out and got Orin Burks in free agency. Uh drafted two linebackers in the draft. And so, you know, the expectation is that these guys are going to be able to step up and uh and stop the run and defend the pass. So, uh I’m not putting a whole lot of stock into week three of the preeason for sure. Um there’s a lot of work left to do, but um interesting comment from Duke Tobin. I felt like after watching the first couple preseason games, uh called Logan Wilson your anchor. And uh Logan Wilson to me hasn’t necessarily shown to be an anchor early on in the preseason, but it is preseason and he’s coming back from an injury. Um what do you take of his comments around Alen specifically wanting to rework the locker the the linebacker room and then also the fact that um that Logan Wilson is uh the anchor of this linebacking crew. Yeah, I guess it makes sense. Obviously, he was the linebacker’s coach when Logan Wilson was drafted and came into the league, especially for that um Super Bowl run. So, it makes sense that Al Golden’s focus when he gets a hold of the the the defense would be at linebacker. You know, it seems like that is a focus of his. Um uh you know obviously we haven’t seen the best out of what we would expect Logan Wilson to be, but um you know it’s it’s one of those things that they they made the bet of Logan Wilson over Germaine Pratt. And obviously they’re different, right? But um hey that that we this is the one uh we’ve that we’re we’re going to go with and we’re going to release Pratt and draft a bunch of these guys. Um, I hope that it’s something that we’re able to look back on and maybe maybe it becomes Demetrius Knight and and um, uh, Bear Carter as like the linebacking core of the future, right? Um, so hopefully, you know, that we can look back on this draft and and look at how we got some some uh some good players there. But yeah, I mean I would expect that we would um I would expect that, you know, part of it too is maybe even a just like a reminder. I don’t know. Obviously, he’s aware. I’m sure that that sentiment about building around Logan Wilson has been communicated to him, but it’s just like a hey, um this is something that we’re expecting, something that we need from our leader, from some of the the veterans that are around here since there aren’t that many of those in defense. And I think Logan Wilson would be considered one of those. Um, yeah, we’re going to need we’re going to need better play. We’re going to need better leadership and and something that hopefully we’ll be able to see move at once we get into the the actual uh games that matter and and moving past preseason. Yeah, absolutely. Um, working on pulling up some PFF grades real quick just to see if they have them ready to go, but it’s loading kind of slow, so we’ll call it a day. Uh, speaking of depth, obviously defense, uh, the depth kind of failed to show out a little bit today. Offensively though, Desmond Ritter, who was looking to lock up that QB3 spot, some people after the first couple weeks were saying that maybe Desmond Ritter is your QB2. Um, now the question is, is Desmond Ritter even a practice squad guy for you? He ends up on Saturday going eight of 20 for just 75 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, was sacked twice, ran the ball twice for 10 yards. Uh, QB rating according to ESPN of 30.2. Um, what’s your expectation for Desmond Ritter at this point as it pertains to the Cincinnati Bengals? Yeah, it doesn’t seem like uh Joe Burrow and Jake Browning have much uh to worry about after today’s uh performance. It’s it’s unfortunate because it was all out in front of him. It’s like, “Hey, go ahead. You’re going to be, you know, you’re going to get the reigns for a significant amount of time and see what you can do.” And he’s obviously started games in the NFL, too. Um and had a little bit of success. So, it’s unfortunate. I I don’t I guess I don’t I’m not sure whether they’d keep Payton Thorne or they would keep um you know uh Desmond Ritter. I’m not sure what they did um in the past like do they it’s one of those where they have they’ll have Jake Browning active and then they inactivate the third guy. I I think it’s typically how they do it. Um, so, um, I guess it’s to me it’s probably still Desmond Ritter’s the third guy who’s inactive on game day and Peyton Thorne goes to the, um, uh, Pton Thorne goes to the practice squad or something like that. But it’s hard to also feel too dis too crazy about it because it’s like it, you know, to me it doesn’t really matter that much because if it’s like whoever that third person is, if they’re taking snaps, then we got way bigger problems uh, with this. It’s one of those things like people didn’t really care that much about Pton Manning’s backup because it was like well uh if that was the case, you know, if if he’s playing then, you know, our season’s shot anyway. So hopefully we just um we can keep Burrow healthy. We’ve also seen that Browning can be a very serviceable backup if need be. Um hopefully we won’t need that this year. We’ll have full 18 games out of uh uh Joe Burrow. That’d be pretty cool to see. Um, and then, uh, you know, been healthy so far. And then it would be really cool to see. It’s tough when you see how offensive line, I don’t know if you want to talk a little bit about that. Um, all the backups were in, but it didn’t keep us from having lots of different penalties, holding, illegal man downfield, uh, all these different things that we that we saw with the backups that, you know, really just reminded us of what we saw a lot with the the starters in there as well. So, um, you know, you you got to hope that you’re able to see better play out of that offensive line, too, to hopefully keep Joe healthy as well. Yeah. Uh, just for reference, last year, Logan Woodside was QB3. He was activated for one game. I think that was more of a uh a favor to him than anything else. Expectation, of course, that the Bengals would yet again probably go uh just two active quarterbacks on most Sundays. So, um, don’t have to worry too much about the Desmond Ritter versus Peyton Thorne battle, quote unquote, but, um, hopefully it just never gets to that point and you don’t have to worry about either one of them being active on on Sunday. Um, another depth conversation obviously, uh, is, uh, you know, the the wide receiver room. And I think it’s a pretty obvious lock how, uh, wide receiver one through three shapes up on this team. But I think potentially today it became even more obvious, at least to me. Well, let’s put it this way. Maybe it the conversation around four or five, but Mitchell Tinsley seems to be a lock on this roster at this point. Yeah, I was surprised that he didn’t play. I was actually kind of looking forward to seeing if he could do some, you know, maybe show off a little bit more and see some of those pretty great catches that we had. And yeah, didn’t even seem to play, which is, you know, I don’t know. Uh it seems that seems pretty clear, especially with uh Burton’s injury. I’m sure we’ll talk a little bit about that as well, but you know, he’s going to be somebody that’s going to be filling out the roster at the back end, which is pretty cool. A guy that kind of had no no expectations and then came in and looked incredible in camp and looked and had the game of his life against Washington. Um, and you know, pretty cool to see those are guys you like rooting for, right? Those are guys that have, you know, he he’s on his second team already. um and is not somebody that was really given much of a chance in the NFL and making a roster. It’s pretty cool. So, um uh I haven’t seen anything. I’ve been trying to get some more information about um Burton and how bad that injury was. It looks like he obviously was being tended to and didn’t then um yeah, it says didn’t uh no timetable is what So, it just says his knee is is all that it says. So hopefully, you know, it’s not the worst. Um I I don’t know. Germaine Burton is somebody that I think in a perfect world, we would have loved him as wide receiver four, wide receiver, even three if if he could, just as somebody could take the top off the defense. And you see the talent is there. Um but then you see, you know, that that ball that was right to him that he tries to one-hand that probably was a pretty easy two-handed catch earlier in the I think the first drive of the series. And now with him getting hurt, it’s like well uh I don’t think anyone here or in the chat was uh counting on getting a huge contribution from Burton, but um I think maybe his injury is even more solidifying uh Mitchell Tinsley’s uh spot here on this roster. Yeah, you look at the depth chart for wide receiver, obviously Jamar Chase, T. Higgins and Andre Yoshabos have locked up the top three spots, but Charlie Jones and Mitchell Tinsley kind of seem like they are in a battle for that fourth and fifth spot. Uh my expectation is at this point is you’ll probably see both of them throughout the season in limited roles, right? I mean, there are going to be times where they’re going to have an opportunity to get on this field. Uh Germaine Burton is likely on the roster, but is he going to see the field much if at all outside of special teams? I’m not so sure at this point. Obviously, we’ll wait and see how that knee is from Zack Taylor later on uh and see exactly what happens uh with that and if he has to miss any time uh whether that becomes uh Isaiah Williams or Kendrick Prior’s job. Um, I’m not sure on that outlook just yet, but we shall see. Um, but the other Go ahead. The other injury news was Dejon Anthony limped off with a hamstring. Um, it’s once again, Zack Taylor apparently confirmed that it was a hamstring, but didn’t talk about how uh bad it was. So, I don’t know if you want to talk a little bit about the safety room now because uh we’re already kind of thin there with uh just the lack of of really going out and doing any addressing it in free agency or really the draft. So, um I guess what are your thoughts on on uh a safety room and and how the depth there is really getting shallow? Yeah. Well, look, Jordan Battle and Gino Stone along with Tyson Anderson didn’t play today. So, Tyson Anderson getting the day off should tell you a little bit about how the team views him after his interception last week. Uh, Dejon Anthony goes down with an injury today. The only other guy who’s really put anything good on paper, at least in my eyes, has been PJ Jules. Um, Jaylen Key, Shaquin Loyal, not necessarily showing a whole lot at that safety position. So, you certainly hope that that Jordan Battle and Gino Stone can can hold it down with Tyson Anderson being able to come in if needed. But, uh, beyond that, the there are questions. PJ Jules ability to be a NFL safety is yet to be seen. Um, obviously, uh, still his first season out of Southern Illinois. Um, but, you know, seven tackles today, all of them solo. um put some stuff on paper, but then also we get burned for a 59 yard touchdown. So, how much can you put into it? I don’t know. Um but if Dejon’s hamstring injury is something that’ll keep him out for any sort of exterior extended period of time, you know, having a safety room of Jordan Battle, Gino Stone, Tyson Anderson, and PJ Jewels after last year’s struggles for Gino Stone doesn’t doesn’t give a whole lot of confidence going into it. Um, you know, there are potentially waiverwire pickups to be made this this week that are yet to be seen who will become available. Um, but I wouldn’t be shocked. There’s probably multiple positions across this defense that could be upgraded in depth from those waiver wire pickups. So, I’m not sure how um how the Bengals will attack that. They haven’t necessarily been one to go out and make waiver claims in the past after initial uh um deadlines there, but we’ll see how they attack this year. Yeah, they seem to like their guys, you know, because anytime you’re picking up waivers, that means you got to cut down more people, right? So, they seem to like their guys and um and that’s why I think we don’t see as many of those waiver claims. I think though, one thing to note about the Dejan Anthony injury is, you know, his being missed on special teams. Um, I think last year he contributed a lot on special teams, especially as that punt gunner, getting down there and downing the ball. He seemed to do, you know, to be pretty good at at getting down there and, um, helping with that punt coverage and things like that. So, I think that is something some like, uh, under the radar thing in which we would, uh, maybe miss his absence. Hopefully hamstring, he just tweaked it. They’ve got what 13 14 days until the opening uh uh opening uh game. So hopefully we can see that be something that was just uh mild and and maybe he can still be there and contribute. But yeah, it’s I think uh he may he will be missed on those uh special teams uh coverage because I think he had he found carved out a pretty good role for himself there. Yeah, there are obviously some guys already available in free agency. Marcus Williams from the Ravens, Justin Simmons spent last year with the Atlanta Falcons, uh even guys like Jordan Whitehead who were with the Buccaneers last year. So, uh if they wanted to make a move at safety, it feels like they could have already done that. Um but maybe after a Dejon Anthony injury, maybe that changes their outlook and maybe they have to go attack that. I don’t I don’t know um how they feel there. There’s also the Trey Hendrickson deal anytime. So, say you bring in Justin Justin Simmons, right? There’s there’s a nonzero cap hit that you have to take there. And we’ve saw with the T and Jamar saga, right? They they they seem to kind of focus on one thing at a time. And so, you know, I’m not saying that we couldn’t see them, but I I it may be tough for them. they may choose to not bring somebody in and have to reshake out what the cap hit for them would be or getting to the cap um with a lack of a of a Hendrickson trade or of a Hendrickson deal um just because they would like I think a little bit more certainty on what that is going to be and then see what they have left to be able to um hopefully offer out contracts to. So, I think that may be I mean, yes, they they need to figure out the Trey Hendrickson deal, but they have $30 million in cap space this year, and Trey Hendendrickson is already eating up 18 and plus of that. So, you can’t sit here and tell me that we’re going to give him a $30 million more raise this year. That’s not going to happen. So, yes, I agree with you that I would love for them to figure out the Trey Hendrickson deal already and get that under their belt, but they have money if they want to spend it. And for a team who legitimately could be a Super Bowl contender to sit on $30 million of cap space is crazy. So they either they either don’t trust their their maybe it’s the other way. Maybe they overly trust their eyes and uh and their gut decisions and feel like they have something to prove themselves over, you know, going out and getting a proven veteran. But they if if they wanted to, they could. There’s this like classic meme about, you know, women who love to tweet out about guys and what they could do in relationships if they really wanted to. If they wanted to, they could. That’s it’s exactly how I feel with the Bengals. They have $30 million in cap space this year. If they wanted to, they would. They’re not, and they won’t. And so, here we are now uh a week and a half uh two weeks away, I guess, from opening week. uh opportunity now for everybody to rest up again and um see what happens. But I I’m on the record. I don’t think Trey Hendrickson gets done before week one. Yeah, that’s I mean and part of why you have some of that flexibility is so you can do things like this like a Daltton Risner, right? Um or you could do a Justin Simmons to fill out the roster if there if there is something that could be done. So, um, you know, hopefully they are able to, you know, be flexible, especially maybe this injury is something that forces their hand in the same way that Cordell Volen’s injury was somebody that made them much more of a player within the in the Risner camp. So, um, I don’t know. We’ll see. Uh, I I I tend to agree with you. It’s one of those things where uh it’s hard to bank on them wanting to, you know, spend all the way to the cap because they haven’t really shown us much evidence that they’re willing to, you know, push the margins on that aspect of things. Yep. Um All right. Other comments from Duke Tobin that I want to touch on real quick uh before we wrap up the show. Uh I thought it was interesting. He says, quote, “We always worry about punter and kicker.” Uh, but he’s said that Evan McFersonson has come back well from injury. Obviously, ends the preseason perfect. Um, but still interesting that he said that that’s always a worry for him. Um, obviously at this point, Evan McFersonson kind of feels like an opportunity to make or break your season on on certain opportunities. So, uh, good for him to show out in the preseason and be perfect, but what are your thoughts going into this year about about that? Yeah, I kind of took that as just like a, um, you know, football guy that’s always still worried about kicks. I don’t I I don’t I don’t think that they are having deep discussions about, you know, what we would need for another punter and kicker. I think they’re they’re pretty set on that uh, on that aspect of it. Um but yeah, I I think that um obviously nursing that injury last year I think led to some inaccuracy. Plus always, you know, getting a new holder is always something that can be tricky for a kicker. There’s, you know, you’ve you’ve heard people talk about how just fine that that operation needs to be in order to um in order to make sure that things are lined up. We saw in I think it was the Ravens game last year, right? the fumbled uh or the the not perfect snap or and hold that led to missing that game-winning field goal against Baltimore in overtime. So, um it can it can have a large effect. So, I’m I’m just excited to see these got the same people. We don’t have a camp battle. I guess we do have a semicamp battle for uh long snapper. It seems like Adamitis is uh got it wrapped up, but the um you know, I’m excited to see, hey, we we got a little bit of consistency here. we can go into it and um you know I I think it helps um you know I remember in that Super Bowl season just feeling like anytime you got over the 50 it was just like you felt okay because it was like well McFerson’s going to come in and nail the long field goal. Now, I don’t want Zack Taylor to be have, you know, kind of take the foot off the gas like I feel like he’s done in in the past, but um feel a lot better about um you know, where we stand kicker and punterwise. And maybe I’m being naive and and ever they’re always taking a look at it, but I I feel like, you know, of all the things to worry about, it’s like that or not to worry about in this, it’s like quarterback, wide receiver one and two, and it feels like uh kicker is is is pretty solidified with what we, you know, what we can count on this year. Yeah. Um, look, I was one of those guys who questioned the uh injury last year from Evan McFersonson, thinking that maybe this was more of a just the Bengals protecting their investment by saying that he was injured after having a uh lackluster uh season to that point. But, you know, if he’s come back healthy, like they’re saying, and he comes back and he’s able to to become that kicker that really kind of carried us to the Super Bowl back in 2021, then I’m certainly excited about that. Um, you know, I again, I’m more of an optimistic and naysayer kind of guy, so I I question that to begin with, but maybe it really was an injury. Maybe he really did uh have issues that were affecting his ability to to make those kicks. But um you know between him and and Ryan Rico, it certainly feels like the quote unquote skill positions of special teams are in good hands, right? I mean, uh certainly some questions around coverage uh on the kickoffs and the punts, but from a strictly skill position conversation, it feels like those two um are definitely in position. And hopefully we don’t have to use them too much, but you know, Evan McFersonson, uh, if you miss field goals can obviously come back to to bite you. And if you miss any extra points, that certainly can come back to bite you, too. So, uh, we saw that in the past and and hope that it doesn’t happen in 2025. Uh, the other conversation, Mike, from Duke Tobin was about the running back room said that they feel good about it. Uh, obviously, Chase Brown has looked great this preseason and in camp. uh studies stepped up and improved vastly in blocking but also made the comment that Pine was brought back as a blocker. Uh so interesting comment there about Perine. Uh but the the other conversation I think that has to be had is kind of that RB4 I guess position and uh coming into today Gary Brightwell listed as the fourth running back on the depth chart. Uh, but Kendall Milton got a majority of the carries, especially early on in this game. I thought he looked really good. Eight carries for 72 yards, an average of nine per. Uh, did have that 41 yarder that he that he popped off. I thought he looked good. He looked strong. Um, obviously got stuffed at the the goal line, but that that play got negated, so it didn’t matter. Um, you know, even if you take away that that 41 yarder, he had seven carries for for 31 yards. What did you like out of Milton today? Yeah, looked uh looked good, too. I think he had a couple runs, too, that got called back for uh either holding penalties or um or you know, other procedural penalties. So, um I think that you know, for RB4, even Bright Side, he looked he I thought he looked pretty good, too. I felt like that was one of the only bright spots that we had. Uh it was just like, oh, the running backs look pretty good. Um so, um yeah, I I I would imagine I guess the the four fourth guy is somebody maybe that they have they practice squat him. Um but it’s it’s somebody that you know, you didn’t feel awful. He looks similar to you know, just a hard-nosed and hard to bring down guy. Um I think uh they commented a few times on the on the broadcast that you know after his you know he’d make a cut and then he’d have contact and he wasn’t somebody that was going right down. So I think that’s um that’s always good to it’s it seems like um that’s what you’re getting out of Taj Brooks too. Um and so they seem to have a type for kind of late light late late of the draft or free agent guys that they’re going to come in that could potentially ascend to RB2 even or RB3. Um, when it comes to Per Rine, it makes a lot of sense. He Tobin confirmed what I think most people thought. You know, he’s not in there to take much away from uh Chase Brown, but I think we’ll probably be in there for some big third downs, right, to be not only extra blocker in there to uh help protect Joe Burrow and protect this offensive line, but as his safety blanket. We saw that a lot, especially in that playoff run. um you know, he squirts out of the back field and Joe’s just going to dump it off for we’ll take nine yards, we’ll take eight yards here and we’ll just uh move down the field that way. So, um it makes sense that and and that that’s what he’s there for and um I feel like that’s he’s the perfect person for that role. He’s proved that he can do that and um can be a part of, you know, a successful offense in doing that. Yeah, I think I mean knock on wood here obviously, but if anything were to happen with Chase Brown, I don’t think Sam Perine is your backup every down running back. I think Taj Brooks probably comes in in those scenarios and Perine remains in his third down role. Um, but like you said, I mean, in those scenarios where you need to know that you have uh protection and need your running back to be able to stay in or to slip out and catch a pass out of the back field, Perine’s certainly shown that ability. Chase Brown will continue to get reps, I think, in third down situations. I don’t think it’s going to be one of those, you know, Chase Brown’s just a two down back and then P R comes in because Chase Brown has shown such talent out of the backfield catching the ball and such improvement last year uh at that role. So, um how much the Bengals end up using Samaj P round is yet to be seen. Um I don’t I could be completely wrong. Um, but I almost wonder like if if Chase Brown is that talented out of the backfield catching the ball, if he’s getting better blocking, you know, I don’t know how good Taj Brooks has been at blocking. I don’t know how good Kendall Milton has been at that blocking role. Um, is there a world where Perine is one of those casualties at the cut deadline and doesn’t make this team and then they roll with Chase Brown, Tosh Brooks, and and Kendall Ben or Gary Brightwell back there? I don’t know. just a an interesting thought as they have to try to get down to 53. Um, and how they do that. Um, the other the other piece I I think that we should touch on just real quick and then uh if there’s anything left for you that’s great, but the Bengals on their probably unofficial at this point would be my guess, but depth chart on their website. Uh, they list Matt Lee as the backup center. Um, and they list Jaylen Rivers as the backup right tackle. Both of those guys got extended play today. Um, at not those positions. Was it Mclaclin at center? Well, Mclacklin came in later at center, but Lee started at at center for sure. And then Jaylen Rivers started at right guard. Um, I thought both of those were probably the standouts on the offensive line today. Um, so opportunities for them to solidify their roles. I know a lot of people have talked about Matt Lee moving to guard, but if Jaylen Rivers, who was a late round draft pick out of Miami, Florida, uh, can slide in to be that guard, if they’re not going to go out and sign Daltton Risner, I think we’re all in agreement that Lucas Patrick hasn’t earned a job at this point. Is there a world where you see Jaylen Rivers become that right guard starting on September 7th? Um, I can’t imagine. I know Lucas Patrick hasn’t really shown us much, but I can’t imagine. It doesn’t seem like Rivers has like I think they moved him inside less because of their need for guard. Obviously, they needed it, but I think part of it was his struggle at tackle. Um, you know, there reports that he was, you know, basically susceptible to any speed rush there, you know. So, I don’t know. I don’t feel great about that offensive line as it is. I I don’t think uh you know, if we got River starting two rookies starting at guard, you know, starting the season seems like a uh like a you know, recipe for disaster. Obviously, Dylan Fairchild has looked great. I think better than we could have even imagined um initially. Um, maybe I’m overstating that, but I, you know, I didn’t have, you know, it, it’s one of those things that I think we’ve been so focused on the lack of play from the other guard spot that the fact that we haven’t had to focus on Dylan Fairchild child is a good thing. Um, we’ll see if, you know, Miles Garrett lines up over him and and what he does on in Cleveland, but the uh the, you know, that right guard position, right guard position, is that that’s where Patrick is, right? Is that Yeah. Yeah, I you know I it feels it feels like it’s still Patrick. I I would, you know, we still got time to see that uh get Risyner in the building and and sign him. But if you even if you do, it’s hard to say that with, you know, no basically. I mean, he would just have a couple practices, but slotting him in almost immediately with, you know, on that short notice doesn’t seem like that’s something that uh is possible. It’s like every day that it goes by, it’s like less and less likely that even if we do sign him that he’s going to be available for something like uh week one. So, um I still think that we get it done with Risner. I would imagine they’re probably uh I don’t know. I I don’t know what your thoughts are on it. the longer that it goes, obviously it seems less and less likely, but I, you know, the fit seems right and um there’s probably just a squabble over money like like which we seem to seems to be the squabble over every um you know signing that we have. So um yeah, I don’t know. Back to your question, Rivers River starting at guard for your first uh first game of the year would be pretty troubling to me. Well, I think Lucas Patrick starting at Rygard is also troubling. So, I I think you’re in a lose-lose situation there because I don’t think that Risner is going to get signed in time to be able to come in and be your starting right guard on September 7th. But, um it’ll be interesting to see. I don’t I don’t know. You mentioned obviously Rivers uh started the season working out mostly at at tackle. Um which didn’t make a ton of sense to me given you at least seemingly are pretty firm there in your starters there. um maybe they thought Lucas Patrick was equally uh solidified at the guard position and then as the season went on uh they came to realize that maybe that wasn’t the case. But um from a backup perspective, you lose Cordell Volen this week, he’s going to have surgery on his shoulder, will be out for the year. um Devin Cochran, um Cody Ford, Jaylen Rivers, and then you get deeper into it with guys like Stubers, Mick Laughlin, Etienne, Jackson Kirkland, and Andrew Coker. So, um I don’t know. I I I’m not going to sit here and act like Jaylen Rivers absolutely should start on week one, but I think, you know, you’ve got two weeks now before before week one. Um, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Jaylen Rivers getting a lot more run with that first team in practice to see is that really a fit and when you line up against guys like TJ Sllayton and and other big bodies, can you hold up? Um, but in the limited you got today. Was Cody Ford nursing an injury in camp? Did he did he have something that kept him out a little bit? Yeah, I I I actually think that it um if I remember correctly, uh he didn’t even dress for warm-ups today where most of the starters um most of the starters at least dressed for warm-ups. They just didn’t like they weren’t all taped up and everything. They still went out there and kind of got warm. Um but Cody Ford didn’t even dress today. Um, so I think uh he was injured and still is injured. Um, yeah, but I don’t recall exactly um what that injury was. Um because of all the names you listed off, obviously healthy, I know this is this isn’t a high bar to clear, but of all the names you listed off, he probably somebody that I would trust the most at right guard. Obviously, you know, we’ve we’ve seen the ups and downs of Cody Ford. Um, but yeah, I don’t know if if he’s not healthy, then you know what? Well, after after last week’s game against the Commander, Zack Taylor said that Cody Ford’s injury wasn’t serious and that if it was a real game, Ford would have suited up and could have played, but there was no reason to push him through that injury last week. So, um, my my guess is that it’s he’s still in a similar position. if today was a real game he could have addressed, but uh wasn’t necessary at that point. So, um I guess I guess that’s your answer there. Um but um just some uh one other injury note, Demetrius Knight Jr. um banged up a little bit, but same story. if this was a real game, uh, he could have played, but didn’t see the need for that, uh, again today. So, um, that linebacking crew that we’ve talked about is, uh, is going to be okay there. That’s good to hear. Um, yeah. Any other final thoughts on today’s preseason finale, Mike? Um, no. I’m just ready for regular season. I’m sitting there at, you know, in that third quarter being like, man, this is just uh tough to watch, you know, and uh, you know, I’m ready. I’m ready for regular season for the the team that, you know, I I would say the Reds are probably my my favorite Cincinnati team, but the team that drives me the most crazy is the Bengals. Uh, so hopefully uh, you know, we can get a I als I live here in Columbus and I have a bunch of Cleveland Browns fans, so boy do we need we need to win week one. I’m not gonna hear the end of it if Joe Flacco goes in and uh beats beats the Bengals in week one. So, I need uh take me into consideration, Bengals. I need I need you guys to win week one. Uh because otherwise all I’m going to hear is, you know, how uh the dog pounds going to the Super Bowl. So, um boy, I need I need I need that. So, make sure uh it it would be great to see that. And I’m just excited to to see uh you know offense defense at full strength going at it. And uh you know it’s a thing of beauty when uh Joe Burrow and that offense is humming. And hopefully uh with what he was able to do in the first and especially in that second pregame um or uh um a preseason game that uh you know he’ll be able to hit the ground running in week one. And when we know when that offense is humming, it’s it’s uh pretty hard to stop. Yeah, absolutely. The Browns and their four quarterbacks can miss me with that Super Bowl talk this year. Um, look, it’s uh it’s the third preseason game, no starters played, so take take from it what you want. Uh, one final comment from Zack Taylor postgame. We already talked about Mitchell Tinsley, but when asked about him said, quote, “We didn’t need to see anything else from him.” So, I think that’s a pretty convincing argument for where this Bengals team sees Mitchell Tin Tinsley uh moving forward. Week three and the pre-season are completely under wraps. Colts beat the Bengals 41-4. Bengals now look ahead to Tuesday’s cut deadline and getting down to the 53man roster. We will have content for you for sure to cover the moves on Tuesday. And then we look ahead September 7th at 100 p.m. Bengals will travel to Cleveland to face the the Cleveland Browns in week one. Uh Joe Burrow and this offense will be full go. Uh until then, make sure you follow and subscribe to Chatterbox Sports on YouTube and across all the social media channels. Uh Chatterbox Reds with the one and only Mike Hart back tonight after the Diamondbacks game. Uh that one will be sometime around 11:30 or midnight, I would imagine. Um first pitch in that one scheduled for 9:10, am I right? 8:10. 8:10. 8:10. So maybe you’ll see him around 11. Uh but nonetheless, Micah will be live in the ninth inning and we’ll take you home in that one and and wrap up a potentially a must-win for those Reds. So, uh make sure you tune in to that one. And until next time for Mike Hart, I’m Craig Sandlin. This has been Chatterbox Bengals. We appreciate you and we will see you next time right here on Chatterbox Sports.