Team news: Cincinnati Bengals

Bengals TE C.J. Uzomah is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon, according to Tom Withers of the Associated Press.

Uzomah was being utilized by rookie QB Joe Burrow and had caught a TD prior to being hurt in Thursday's loss to the Cleveland Browns. Uzomah had top 15 tight end upside with the departure of Tyler Eifert. Drew Sample will more than likely be the lead pass-catching tight end for the Bengals going forward.

Via Ben Baby of ESPN.com, Bengals coach Zac Taylor said they’re sticking with Randy Bullock.

“Randy’s our kicker,” Taylor said.

Related players: Austin Siebert

Bullock missed a 31-yard field goal which could have tied the game at the end of regulation, and came up with some degree of calf injury. He was listed as limited Monday, but they seem confident he’ll be ready for Thursday’s game against the Browns. They claimed Siebert earlier, but that’s apparently just an insurance policy, the story said.

The Browns cut kicker Austin Seibert on Monday and they may be playing against him on Thursday night.

NFL Media reports that the Bengals are claiming Seibert off of waivers. The Bengals have the top waiver position in the league through the fourth week of the regular season.

Related players: Randy Bullock

The Bengals saw their chances of tying the Chargers at the end of regulation in Sunday’s loss go up in smoke when Bullock missed a 31-yard field goal. Bullock hurt his calf in the process and was listed as a limited practice participant on Monday’s injury report.

In all, the Bengals wheeled out seven plays with five receivers Sunday.

You know how many times they did this all last year? Zero.

You know how many times the rest of the league did this Sunday? One play by the Bills.

Related players: A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, John Ross, Mike Thomas, Auden Tate, Alex Erickson, Joe Mixon, Joe Burrow

The concept became a staple of his record-breaking season at LSU as his new offensive coordinator Joe Brady shifted from traditional six- and seven-man protections to the five-man protections with everyone out in the route to spread the field. The story added the Bengals ran more plays in five receivers than every team except Pittsburgh has over the last two full seasons. The entire league only ran five wide receivers for 25 total plays last season. The Steelers (17) led the way, Jaguars (four) were next and no other team had more than one. HC Zac Taylor said he wants to get the above WRs on the field because he feels there is a lot of talent there. But it also means pulling guys like Joe Mixon off the field at the same time.

On Sunday, A.J. Green showed why the Bengals need him on the field and how instrumental he can be to rookie quarterback Joe Burrow's development. Green had five catches on nine targets for 51 yards in a 16-13 loss.

Those number led the team in all three of those receiving categories. It was his first game since Dec. 2 2018. Green also had an offensive pass interference that negated a TD catch he would have had to help lock up a Bengals victory.

Richard Skinner of WKRC in Cincinnati picked WR John Ross as the Bengals breakout offensive player. Skinner bases his choice on the return of A.J. Green to pair with Tyler Boyd, forcing defenses to shift their focus away from Ross. Skinner also talked to A.J. Green about Ross. "He’s unbelievable, siad Green. "He’s one of the fastest people I’ve ever seen, and the way he gets in and out of his breaks is unbelievable. He’s had a great camp outside of getting injured, and I’m very excited for him. He’s going to help our offense out so much."

An effective Ross also bodes well for rookie QB Joe Burrow. Ross has dealt with a myriad of injuries in Cincinnati, but showed promise in the first few weeks of 2019 before said injuries forced him to miss eight games. Until the Bengals offense shows it can support Green, Boyd, and RB Joe Mixon, it will be tough to see Ross as anything other than a waiver wire watch early this season.

The Bengals are counting on C.J. Uzomah and Drew Sample to help fill the void left by Tyler Eifert, who ranks sixth all-time in franchise history in receiving yards for a tight end.

Even though Eifert was the most productive tight end in 2019, Uzomah was the team’s starter. Uzomah started all 16 games and was in for over 58% of the club’s snaps. Eifert was primarily used as a red zone target. This year without Eifert on the roster, Uzomah should see an uptick in production as his role expands the story went on to say.