Bengals TE Mike Gesicki Can Do Something Sunday Only 11 Other Players in Team History Have Accomplished

CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki could have a chance to do something Sunday that only 11 other players in franchise history have done – score a touchdown against his former team.

Gesicki practiced Wednesday after spending more than a month on Injured Reserve with a pectoral injury.

It’s possible – and perhaps likely – the Bengals will activate Gesicki before Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.

Gesicki played for the Patriots in 2023 before signing a one-year deal with the Bengals in 2024 and then re-upping this past offseason for three years and $24 million.

If Gesicki plays and scores a touchdown, he will be the second Bengals player to do it against his former team this season alone.

Joe Flacco’s 1-yard touchdown run against the New York Jets in Week 8 made him the 10th player in franchise history to score against his former team.

The list only includes rushing, receiving, return or defensive touchdowns – not passing touchdowns.

Here are the other nine who have done it:

Hayden Hurst, 2022

A first-round pick of the Ravens in 2018, Hurst signed with the Bengals in 2022 and caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow at Baltimore in a 19-17 loss on Sunday Night Football.

Mike Hilton, 2021

Hilton signed with the Bengals in 2021 after four years with the Steelers, and in a Week 11 game at Paycor Stadium he returned a Ben Roethlisberger interception 24 yards for a touchdown.

The score made it 31-3, and the Bengals went on to win 41-10.

Brandon LaFell, 2016

LaFell spent four years with the Panthers and two with the Patriots before signing with Cincinnati in 2016.

He returned to New England in Week 6 and caught a 5-yard touchdown from Andy Dalton that gave the Bengals a 14-10 team, but they went on to lose 35-17.

Alex Smith, 2013

After spending four seasons with the Buccaneers, one with the Eagles and three with the Browns, Smith signed with the Bengals in 2013.

He only played 10 snaps in his return to Cleveland early in the season, but in a Week 11 home game, Smith scored a 2-yard touchdown on his only reception in a 41-20 Bengals win.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, 2013

He arrived in Cincinnati in 2012 after four seasons in New England, and in a Week 5 game in which the Bengals snapped Tom Brady’s streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass, Green-Ellis scored the only touchdown of the game on 1-yard run.

It was the difference in a 13-6 home win.

Lorenzo Neal, 2002

By the time he signed with the Bengals in 2001, Neal was 31 and had four former teams in the Saints, Jets, Buccaneers and Titans.

He got to face three of his former teams in 2002, but the only one he scored against was Tennessee with a 1-yard run early in the first quarter of a 30-24 home loss.

Willie Jackson, 1999

A fourth-round pick of the Cowboys in 1994, Jackson signed with the Jaguars in 1995 and played three seasons for them before moving inside of the AFC Central Division to join the Bengals.

Cincinnati was 1-6 when Jacksonville came to town in Week 8, and Jackson only had 15 catches. But against his former team, he caught two balls for 21 yards, including a 15-yard pass from Jeff Blake on the final play of the game in a 41-10 loss.

James Brooks, 1985, 1988, 1990

The former San Diego Charger who came to Cincinnati via a 1984 trade for the Bengals’ career leader in touchdowns, Pete Johnson.

Brooks went on to score in all three career meetings against the Chargers.

His first meeting against his former team came in Week 3 in 1985, with Brooks rushing 16 times for 86 yards a touchdown while catching four passes for 29 yards.

The touchdown came early on a 1-yard run, and there was a lot more scoring after that as the Chargers went on to win 44-41.

He scored again in 1988 on 2-yard pass from Boomer Esiason in a 27-10 win in Week 15.

And in Week of 1990, Brooks went back to San Diego and caught a 10-yard pass from Esiason in 21-16 win in Week 2.

John Reaves, 1975

A first-round pick of the Eagles in 1972, Reaves came to Cincinnati via trade in 1975.

Reaves only started one game for the Bengals that year, and it was the week before his return to Philadelphia.

The following against the Eagles, he threw one pass and had one rushing attempt, which was a 3-yard touchdown late in a 31-0 victory.

Charlie King, 1968

After playing two seasons for the Bills, the defensive back joined the expansion Bengals in 1968.

In the third game in Bengals history, King returned an interception – the only one of his career – 32 yards for a touchdown to give Cincinnati a 20-14 lead on the way to a 34-23 victory.