Team news: Cincinnati Bengals | Page 4

Browns QB Shedeur Sanders injured his oblique in practice today, early on, and will be evaluated. That may take him out of the next preseason game — the latest in a string of Cleveland nagging QB injuries.

Related Players: Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel

Pickett is also sidelined at the moment, so the next preseason game might be between Gabriel and recently signed Tyler Huntley. We still expect Flacco to begin the regular season as the starter.

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said QB Jordan Love is undergoing a procedure on his left thumb. It’s a ligament issue.

Related players: Malik Willis, Sean Clifford

The injury happened Saturday against the Jets in the preseason game. Demovsky went on to say that’s why Love had had his thumb taped Monday in practice. While there is no mention of his Week 1 status, the hope, according to the post, is for Love to return to practice next week. This will be worth monitoring as the rest of camp goes on. While Love could certainly play through a left thumb injury, it can still affect handing off the ball and taking snaps under center. However, the team doesn't think this will affect their QB long-term.

Ahead of camp, I believed there were dozens of ways the quarterback competition could play out. Two weeks before the preseason ends, it’s still impossible to predict much of anything outside of Joe Flacco probably being the opening-day starter.

Related players: Shedeur Sanders, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel

The story went on to say, until we see Sanders get practice reps with the No. 1 offense, we can’t believe the Browns view him as having much of a shot to be the No. 2 when the season begins. The story added because of Pickett's injury, his time is running out to have a chance at the starting position. And the same can be said for Gabriel. The author said the coaching staff sees Gabriel ahead of Sanders in the pecking order, but the author said, "but rarely in training camp has that position matched what we’ve seen on the field." The author also added that "no reasonable person thinks Sanders will be fully ready to lead a team and consistently attack a complicated NFL defense three weeks from now." The story said Sanders has shown enough talent and growth and has a chance to develop into a starting-quality player. So while Flacco seems like a safe bet, with three other QBs in the mix it seems to be anyone's guess how the rest of the order shakes out.

It's no secret the Bengals' offense is geared around Burrow and the passing attack. From the way they play to their respective skill sets, the top three running backs the Bengals have in their offense this year complement that approach.

That's why Cincinnati's running backs always get the same message from their position coach before they break for the summer.

"Obviously we're going to run the ball when we can, but we're going to throw the ball and win games," Bengals assistant coach Justin Hill told ESPN. "And if you can't protect and if you're not a viable option in the pass game, you're going to have a hard time being successful in this offense as a running back."

Related players: Chase Brown, Tahj Brooks, Samaje Perine

The story said Brown is cemented as the featured back. Cincinnati also swapped out Zack Moss for rookie Brooks, a sixth-round pick out of Texas Tech, and also brought back veteran Samaje Perine, who was valued for his receiving skills and pass protection during the team's deep playoff runs in 2021 and 2022. The story added Brown has really worked on his pass catching skills and he's likely to have a big role in the passing game. With Moss out of the picture, it's easy to see how the rookie Brooks can be the team's RB2 behind Brown so Brown owners may want to really pay attention to this battle if you're looking to handcuff Brown.

Going into the 2025 season, the Cincinnati Bengals already have one of the most loaded offenses in the NFL, so adding another weapon seems almost unfair at this point, but the team might just have an emerging weapon in Tahj Brooks, a player they found near the bottom of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Brooks was taken in the sixth round with the 193rd overall pick.

Related players: Chase Brown, Samaje Perine, Gary Brightwell

Brooks fell to the bottom of the draft despite a college career at Texas Tech that saw him rush for 4,560 yards, which ranks as the fourth-most in Big 12 history, the story said. The only players ahead of him on the all-time list are three NFL names you might recognize: Cedric Benson, Ricky Williams and Darren Sproles, according to the story. Brooks has been drawing high praise at camp and the team recently released Zack Moss, so Brooks looks to solidly be the RB2 on a high-powered Bengal offense.

Shedeur Sanders, the Browns’ fourth-team quarterback who has yet to take a snap with the first-team offense, is expected to start the game, a league source tells cleveland.com.

Related players: Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Tyler Hundley

There may not be much news here to be quite honest. Both Pickett and Gabriel are dealing with injuries and Flacco doesn't need to see time in a preseason game ... so Sanders gets his chance. A lot was made about the Browns recently-released depth chart and so Sanders can maybe make a move upward with a solid performance. Recently-signed Tyler Hundley will also likely see time in the game.

Bengals are giving former Seahawks and Broncos TE Noah Fant a one-year deal.

Bengals also have released TE Kole Taylor.

Related Players: Mike Gesicki, Drew Sample, Tanner Hudson, Erick All

We can probably assume that another one of these names (if not Fant himself) will be missing from the team's final 53-man roster. Gesicki should remain the TE to target on this offense, though he can be saved until very deep in drafts.

Bengals released veteran RB Zack Moss, who played in eight games with six starts for Cincinnati last season. Moss had 74 rushing attempts for 242 yards and two TDs last season.

Related Players: Chase Brown, Samaje Perine, Tahj Brooks

This had been hinted at by beat writers throughout summer, as the team is prepared to lock Brown in for another big workload, with Perine serving as a rotational thrid-down back. Brooks can still potentially get work, but it's not likely to be enough for redraft consideration.

The Browns placed quarterback Deshaun Watson on the active/physically unable to perform list, among several moves they announced Tuesday.

Watson underwent a second surgery on his torn Achilles on Jan. 10 and is not expected to be ready to practice for a few months. The Browns are expected to place him on reserve/PUP before the season, forcing him to miss at least the first four games.

Related players: Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders.

The Browns are expected to place him on reserve/PUP before the season, forcing him to miss at least the first four games, the story said. It's been reported Watson will likely miss most or all of 2025. Gabriel and Sanders are two rookies who will battle with Flacco and Pickett for the starting job.

Bengals Offensive Coordinator Dan Pitcher said that RB Chase Brown will be one of the focal points of the Bengals offense this year.

Related players: Chase Brown, Zack Moss, Samaje Perine

It's an exciting through for those who own or will own Brown this season, especially considering how high-powered the offense can be, and, with a defense that struggled to stop anyone last season. Brown finished as the fantasy RB11 overall and RB16 on a per-game basis. He took over the backfield after Moss went down and made the most of his opportunity, ranking as the RB6 from Week 9 to Week 17. He caught 54 passes—5th among running backs—and played a key role in one of the league’s best offenses. The Bengals brought Moss back and added Perine, who could siphon off passing-down work and limit Brown’s weekly floor. Still, Brown looks like the favorite to lead this backfield in touches and carries high-end RB2 value in a high-scoring offense. If he holds onto the passing-game role, there’s room for more. He could be great value with his current ADP of the early-to-mid third round.