Three Cincinnati Bengals Who Solidified Their Spot on the 53-Man Roster in Preseason Game vs. Bears

The Cincinnati Bengals have to trim their roster from 89 – following the release of offensive lineman Cody Ford – to 53 by 6 p.m. Sunday.

Monday afternoon before practice, head coach Zac Taylor said anybody who plays in the preseason finale Friday night at Philadelphia should not feel as though they are a lock to make the 53-man roster.

“I don't feel like anybody should feel comfortable going in this last week that they've made the team,” he said. “That's a big part of it, is we want guys that we can depend on. So they’ve got to continue to be consistent and accountable over this last week through the Philly game. And we'll make our decisions this weekend.”

In reality, there are multiple players who will play Friday night who are locks to make the team.

Some of them were before Saturday night’s 27-9 win against Chicago.

A few feel as though they cemented their spots with their performance against the Bears.

Dohnte Meyers, WR

It’s been building for a while with all of the plays he’s made in practice and his strong performance against the Detroit Lions in the preseason opener, buy Meyers cemented his spot with another impressive all-around performance against the Bears.

Meyers led the team with five receptions, and his six targets were second to Colbie Young (eight). He also had 41 receiving yards and got a chance to return two kickoffs and two punts.

His kickoff returns were for 29 and 25 yards, while his punt returns went for 25 and 9 yards.

And if the eye test wasn’t telling enough, Josh Johnson said the quarterbacks have been talking about Meyers since the spring and went on to offer an even stronger endorsement.

“Dohnte pops off the film,” he said. “I think now you're just seeing him put his mind with his ability, and that's a great sign for a young player to be able to do that as quickly as he's doing it.

“All of the quarterbacks have confidence in him,” Johnson added. “You don’t need to say a lot when you’ve got Joe speaking out about him, Flacco always throwing the ball to him, and when I get out there, we throw the ball to him. There’s a reason. He’s been showing me there are no limitations to his game.”

Kris Jenkins, DT

The 2024 second-round pick actually might have sealed his spot in the win against the Lions, when played 48 percent of the snap and recorded five tackles, one shy of the team lead, and a sack.

Jenkins has not played up to his second-round draft slot the last two seasons, and with the additions of T.J. Slaton last year and Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen this spring, he was on notice coming into training camp.

What was so telling about Jenkins’ standing in the eyes of the coaches Saturday night was how little he played, logging just nine snaps.

Guys given the final three quarters off should feel pretty good.

Then again, Jenkins could be a trade piece, and limiting his snaps could be a way of preserving his value. Regardless, he’s going to be a 53-man roster somewhere this time next week.

Landon Robinson, DT

The seventh-round rookie could be a big variable in whether the Bengals shop Jenkins.

He has two sacks in his first two preseason games, logging 1.5 against the Bears and a half sack against the Lions.

“I’ve seen cleaner tackles in my life, but he did a good job coming clean, looping around, and kind of not wasting any space there, and closing down on the quarterback before you could really see him coming,” Taylor said. “Just like I say with any guys competing for some of these backup jobs — just the consistency. It doesn’t always happen. His flash play — it’s great to see his flash play. That was a big, big play, but we really want to see the consistency that if people in the game have to play five to 20 snaps, that you’re going to do your job and allow those around you to do their jobs as well.”

Robinson also has six pressures, which are tied for 12th in the league and are second on the team behind Isaiah Foskey’s eight.

It will be interesting to see how many snaps Jenkins gets Friday night, but you can expect Robinson and Meyers to play a lot.

Same goes for linebacker Swayze Bozeman, who hasn’t quite locked up a roster spot yet but is moving strongly in that direction.

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