Cincinnati Bengals Announce Inactives Ahead Week 5 Showdown vs Detroit Lions

CINCINNATI — The Bengals are relatively healthy going into Sunday's game against the Lions.

Rookie defensive end Shemar Stewart (ankle) will miss his third-straight game. He has a realistic chance to play in Week 6.

Meanwhile, second-year defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson is active for the first time this season. He had 15 tackles (two for loss) and one sack as a rookie in 2024. The Bengals took Jackson in the third round (96th overall) in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Wide receiver Charlie Jones is also active. He went through warmups with the team and will play, despite suffering an Achilles injury on Monday night against the Broncos.

Marco Wilson, Jermaine Burton, Cam Grandy and newly acquired Jordan Jefferson are also inactive.

Charlie Jones is going through warmups with the wide receivers. He missed practice all week with an ankle injury and was “questionable” for today’s game. pic.twitter.com/MInZIDtizs
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) October 5, 2025

Rookie Guards

Rookie Dylan Fairchild will make his fifth-straight start at left guard. Meanwhile rookie Jalen Rivers is getting the nod for a second-straight week at right guard.

"I felt like he did some good things for us against a really, really difficult front," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said when asked about Rivers' Week 4 performance against the Broncos. "He's got some All-Pro players up there that he had to do battle with. And again, I'm not going to say that anybody played at a Pro Bowl level for us, but to say in his first start on the road to Denver against that front, I was pleased with what Jalen did and I think he continued to build off of that. And I really liked his demeanor throughout the game. I spent time over there with those linemen and was really pleased with the demeanor that he had and we just got to continue to build off of that."

It doesn't get any easier for the Bengals' offensive line. They have to deal with Aiden Hutchinson, DJ Reader and a stout Lions defensive front on Sunday afternoon.

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