Cincy Jungle
*Insert Pulp Fiction Looking Around Gif*
In Week 7 vs. the Browns, the Bengals gave Jordan Battle some reps, and it seemed to benefit the entire defensive unit. So, of course, they would keep that up this week and allow the young man to develop, right?
No, his snaps dropped down to three while veterans Geno Stone (60/61) and Vonn Bell (57/61) took the majority of snaps in a poor defensive outing.
Linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither also saw a dip, taking only five defensive snaps.
You know who didn’t have a drop? BJ Hill and Sheldon Rankins. They had an extremely heavy workload, taking 47 and 43 reps, respectively. Rookie Kris Jenkins was the primary substitute on the IDL, taking a respectable 34 snaps. Fellow rookie McKinnley Jackson took a mere 13, less even than Lawrence Guy’s 15.
This is surprising given the Eagles' tendency to run the ball, particularly in short-yardage plays with the “tush push” up the middle. The beefy Jackson could have been a big (no pun intended) piece of stopping that.
Offensively, the absence of Tee Higgins created an opportunity for Andrei Iosivas and Jermaine Burton to squander. Iosivas played 51 snaps and was targeted three times for no receptions. Burton was targeted three times on 24 snaps as well. He caught only one ball, but it was a 41-yard gain, so there is that. Trenton Irwin caught one pass for four yards on his 16 snaps. Charlie Jones saw four snaps and no targets.
Someone had to make up for the lack of production from receivers not named Ja’Marr Chase, and that someone was Mike Gesicki. He took more snaps than any other tight end in this game, which is a big shift from previous weeks. He played 31 snaps and had seven receptions for 73 yards on eight targets.
Erick All was a solid contributor with two catches for 32 yards on 24 reps. Twenty-eight of those yards were on one explosive play. Drew Sample played 18 snaps, and Tanner Hudson played eight.
After an injury scare a week ago, Orlando Brown was once again knocked out of the game. He and Cody Ford ended up splitting the left tackle snaps 50/50.
While not playing a single snap of defense, Maema Njongmeta and Tycen Anderson were big contributors on special teams, playing 20 snaps each. Newcomer offensive tackle Austin Stueber also got in on the special teams action, taking all four field goal/PAT snaps.
