Steelers Now
Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki left his team’s game on Sunday with a pectoral injury, and his status is in question for the Week 7 game between the Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Gesicki was not targeted in the game, the first for new Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco. He left in the second quarter of what became a 27-18 victory for the Green Bay Packers, dropping the Bengals to 2-4 after six weeks of action.
Gesicki, 30, is in his second season with the Bengals. He caught 65 passes for 665 yards and two touchdowns in 2024, his best season in three years. After originally joining Cincinnati on a one-year contract, Gesicki re-signed on a three-year, $25.5 million contract this March. In five games this season, he had eight catches for 61 yards.
Before joining Cincinnati, the Penn State alum spent one season with the New England Patriots and four with the Miami Dolphins, who drafted him in the second round in 2018.
The Bengals replaced Gesicki with Noah Fant, who came over after being a surprise release by the Seattle Seahawks in July. Fant finished Sunday’s game with four catches for 27 yards. On the season, he now has 16 receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown.
In addition to Gesicki and Fant, the Bengals also have Drew Sample and Tanner Hudson available at the tight end position. Hudson had four catches for 10 yards against the Packers, and Sample had one catch for a two-yard loss. Sample has three catches for seven yards on the season, while Hudson made his first reception on Sunday.
The Steelers will travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals on Thursday, Oct. 16, with just three days’ rest between games for both clubs, though the Bengals had the additional disadvantage of playing later in the day on Sunday.
The Steelers are 4-1 and alone in first place in the AFC North, while the Bengals are in second place at 2-4.
RELATED: Odds: Steelers Now in Driver’s Seat in AFC North
Thursday, Oct. 16, 8:15 p.m. on Amazon: Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals
Sunday, Oct. 19, 1 p.m. on CBS: Miami Dolphins at Cleveland Browns
BYE: Baltimore Ravens
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Bengals Lose Key Playmaker to Injury Ahead of Steelers Game
