With 13 Career Defensive Snaps Among 3 Safeties Vying for Bigger Role as Stone sits, Could Answer Lie Elsewhere?

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals’ refusal to sign a veteran safety in free agency saved some money at the time, but it could end up costing them more – as in wins – in the long run.

Geno Stone suffered a hamstring issue on the third play of Thursday night’s preseason loss at Philadelphia and is considered week to week.

The top candidates to replace Stone for however long he is out have a combined 13 defensive snaps in the NFL.

Daijahn Anthony 12

Tycen Anderson 1

PJ Jules 0

“That's a group that we're looking to make sure we're deep enough there, so they're gonna continue to get a lot of opportunities,” head coach Zac Taylor said.

The inference is that finding outside help, which the team eschewed in both free agency and the draft in the spring – could be an option if the coaches aren’t encouraged by what they see from the trio this week, and possibly longer.

Saturday was the first practice after Stone went out, and it started with Anderson and Anthony rotating at the spot next to Jordan Battle with the first-team defense.

But by the end of the session, Jules was getting first team reps, too, after his interception of Jake Browning in the red zone lockout drill.

Safeties coach Jordan Kovacs said plugging Jules in with the starters wasn’t part of the plan when the day began.

"If the guy makes a play, he's earned an opportunity to stay on the field,” Kovacs said. “That's the way I look at it and the way I've always felt. You make a big play like that, you've earned yourself some more reps.”

.@ByJayMorrison had a great view of the interception👇 https://t.co/wd4xILxJ2F pic.twitter.com/zU4YCO2m5w
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) August 9, 2025

“I’ve put in the work,” said Jules, who signed with the Bengals as an undrafted college free agent out of Southern Illinois in 2024.

And Jules isn’t just talking about the voluntary offseason workouts. It was every day during the five-week break between minicamp and training camp as well.

“I’ve been here really for the past two years, and I haven’t went home,” he said. “I haven’t went anywhere, took any trips. I’ve been working here every single day since the end (minicamp).”

“PJ is a gym rat,” Kovacs added. “It means something to him. He's as competitive as they come. The guy loves football, and he's very competitive. That's a really good combination.”

The first-team reps for Jules, who spent 2024 on the practice squad, may have come at the expense of Anthony, but the 2024 seventh-round pick said watching Jules make that play was in many ways more thrilling to making one himself.

“I've been telling him, ‘Just go and attack the ball,’” Anthony said. “So him going from the middle of the field and getting the ball, that's something that PJ never would've done last year. It just means so much to see him do that. Everybody was excited for him.”

Every one of those days Jules was in the building getting extra work on the field, Anthony was right there at his side. Many times, they were the only two on the turf inside Paycor Stadium.

“We'd be on the game field, just me and PJ. He's my little brother,” Anthony said. “We do all types of drills. All the drills we do in (individual in practice), we do that plus more. A lot of ball-skill drills. We've been working hard, and you can see that work transitioning into practice.”

While Anthony is the most experienced of the trio of possible Stone replacements in terms of game reps, only four of his 12 career snaps came after the Week 2 game at Kansas City last year, when his costly pass-interference penalty on fourth and 17 with 38 seconds to go enabled the Chiefs to kick a game-winning 51-yard field goal.

A few days after that penalty, Anthony stood in front of the media and talked about how much it hurt him and vowed to get better. He had pictures of the play on his phone’s lock screen for about three weeks after the fact, just to serve as a reminder.

But neither he nor Anderson nor Jules said they felt any extra juice walking out to practice Saturday knowing a first-team reps in practice and the upcoming preseason game at Washington were on the line.

“I wouldn't say there was anything extra because every day you have to show up and be yourself, no matter if a man is down, no matter if you get more reps,” Anderson said. “You have to take advantage of the reps you get whether you're with the ones, the twos or the threes.”

“Every day is like a game day for me in my position, so you know how it is,” Jules said.

“Geno’s not going nowhere,” Anthony said. “He’s still fully present. And for me, I attacked the day the same way I did when he was with us. Nothing changes. It’s just how can I make myself a better player, and how can I help the team.”

Anderson is the more experienced player seasonally, arriving as a fifth-round pick in 2022.

His lone defensive snap came last year in Week 4 at Carolina, and it technically wasn’t a defensive snap.

The Panthers ran a fake punt, so it officially counted as a defensive play, not a special teams play.

But Anderson has played 331 defensive snaps in preseason games with two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, and 28 tackles.

“It is a great opportunity for guys like Tycen Anderson, Daijahn Anthony, guys like that who maybe haven't gotten the reps that you would have liked in the past to throw them in there and see what they can do and let them compete,” Kovacs said. “Especially in these preseason games and these dog days of camp, they are getting some real reps, some high-stake reps. And it's just been fun to watch them compete and become better players.

“I don't care who you are, how you got here, I'll give you the same promise my coach gave me 15 years ago,” added Kovacs, who entered the league undrafted and played three seasons with the Dolphins. “The best players will play. Every spot is open. Let's go compete and let's see how good we can get. Because competition is ultimately what's going to make us better players.”

The fact that Anderson is still on the team despite a hamstring injury that cost him his entire rookie year and an ACL tear that wiped out nine games in 2023 is due to his prowess on special teams.

Darrin Simmons said he was having a Pro Bowl-caliber season before the ACL, and Anderson returned to that form in 2024.

Having backup safeties who excel on special teams isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity, Simmons said.

“That’s what the job description is for that position, is they have to be great special teams players. No. 3 and No. 4 have to be great. That’s got to be the core of your group. Any core special teams group I’ve ever been a part of that’s been good, we’ve had great safety play.”

A seventh-round pick of the Ravens in 2020, Stone played 819 special snaps for Baltimore from 2021-23.

If the Bengals look for outside help, of if the winner of the battle to replace him during his absence holds onto the job even after Stone is healthy – which isn’t farfetched given that the Bengals asked him to take a pay cut this year – Stone could be an asset for Simmons on special teams.

And though Jules was a defensive standout at the smaller SIU, he played a large role on special teams all five years with the Salukis.

“I love special teams,” said Jules, who mostly played linebacker in college. “I work hard on special teams, and they know how I'm willing to do whatever to at least get an opportunity.

“It's just give it all I got because it's all I got.”

If the answer isn’t currently in the building, a couple of names to keep an eye on are Justin Simmons, Marcus Williams and Jordan Whitehead.

Vonn Bell also is unsigned, but the chances of a third signing in Cincinnati are remote.

Simmons, who has played in 134 games with 124 starts, earned his second Pro Bowl selection in 2023 with Denver. He started 16 games last year for Atlanta.

He has 32 career interceptions, but he’ll turn 32 in November and is coming off a four-year, $61 million contract.

On the plus side, unlike many starting safeties, he is not represented by David Mulugheta, who has had difficult negotiations with the Bengals the last few years (see Tee Higgins, Jessie Bates).

Simmons’ agent is Todd France,

Williams knows the AFC North – and Stone – after spending the last three years in Baltimore.

He has 20 career interceptions and has appeared in 108 games with 106 starts. Williams turns 29 in September.

Whitehead also has more than 100 games played with 105, including 101 starts, but a strong safety more in the mold of Battle.

Signing Whitehead would add another Super Bowl ring to the roster, and he doesn’t turn 29 until next spring.

Until someone tells Kovacs a new player is on the way, he says he will continue to rotate Anthony, Anderson and Jules, possibly with two on the field at the same time in an effort to get them comfortable with all aspects of the position.

“I like to see guys playing left and right, just because you don't want to pigeon hole a guy to being strictly a down safety or strictly a guy that's in deeper zones,” Kovacs said. “I want to see them do it all. And then from there, we can mold them into whatever safety we want them to be.

“So it's important because now they've got to learn the whole defense, not just half the defense,” he continued. “That will pay dividends. They're getting good reps, and they're all getting better and more comfortable in those different positions, different roles.”