Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has faced the Bengals three times in his NFL career and none of those contests has ended with a Jacksonville victory.
The Bengals won at home by a field goal in Lawrence’s rookie season in a game best remembered as the one that was followed by then-coach Urban Meyer staying behind to have a little fun at a local bar rather than travel home with his team. The Bengals won in overtime behind Jake Browning in 2023 and Browning came in to rally them to a win again after Joe Burrow was injured late in last season’s game in Cincinnati.
Those results make the Bengals the only AFC team that Lawrence has not beaten since he entered the league as the first overall pick in 2021 and he acknowledged that’s something he’s aware of during a Wednesday press conference.
“We gotta make it turn. We gotta go win it,” Lawrence said. “It’s definitely something that, when you’re going into the game, you think about. You’re not sitting there thinking about it every second of the day and all week, but I’ve thought about it. It’s a team that we haven’t beat. We lost a tough one there early in the season last year and that’s one that we definitely we want back. All those things you think about and you move on. You have to put your energy toward something that actually does something for you, which is preparing and getting ready to go.”
Both teams are 2-1 heading into Sunday’s game, so it’s an opportunity for the Jags to get an early leg up in the AFC playoff race in addition to getting Lawrence a clean sweep of the conference.
Quarterback Joe Flacco became a free agent in March. Before re-signing with the Bengals, he explored his options.
The Giants weren’t one of them.
Per a league source, Flacco had interest in the Giants. The Giants did not have interest in Flacco.
At the time, the Giants had Jameis Winston under contract through 2026. He has since signed a two-year extension.
Flacco, who played with the Ravens and current Giants coach John Harbaugh for more than a decade, eventually returned to the Bengals, on a one-year, $6 million deal. And the Bengals surely wouldn’t have been willing to part with Flacco in the days since Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered a knee injury; they need to have Flacco around, in the event starter Joe Burrow suffers another injury.
Still, the Giants could have had Flacco in March. While they’d never admit it, they could be privately kicking themselves that they didn’t reciprocate his offseason interest.
The Giants instead will proceed with Winston, backed up by J.J. McCarthy. They surely hope Winston plays well enough to hold the job. If he doesn’t, McCarthy will surely get a chance at some point.
The Dolphins signed inside linebacker Shaka Heyward off the Bengals’ practice squad, the team announced Tuesday.
Heyward has appeared in 18 career games in two seasons with Cincinnati (2024-25). He has totaled eight tackles, including one tackle for loss, on defense, adding 14 tackles and one forced fumble on special teams.
He entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Cincinnati in 2025.
The Dolphins also announced signing offensive guard James Ester to the practice squad.
Ester initially joined the Dolphins on May 14 when they claimed him off waivers from the Packers. He entered the NFL in 2024 as an undrafted free agent with Green Bay, where he spent two seasons (2024-25) on the practice squad.
The Bengals announced several roster moves on Tuesday afternoon.
They confirmed the previously reported signing of wide receiver Mitchell Tinsley off of the Texans’ practice squad and that they have waived wide receiver Ke’Shawn Williams. They also placed cornerback Jalen Davis on injured reserve and signed tight end Tanner Hudson off of their practice squad.
Davis injured his hamstring in Sunday’s loss to the Steelers. Davis started two of the team’s three games this season and made 10 tackles. He’ll have to miss at least four games before he will be able to return to the lineup.
Hudson has played in two games this year and he has three catches for 17 yards. He played in 38 games for the team over the past three seasons.
With the Bengals bringing back one receiver, they’re letting go of another.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports Cincinnati has waived receiver/returner Ke’Shawn Williams.
Williams muffed a punt return in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Steelers. That allowed Pittsburgh to tie the game at 27-27 before Pittsburgh eventually got another field goal to win, 30-27.
News emerged earlier on Tuesday that the Bengals are signing Mitchell Tinsley off of the Texans’ practice squad.
Tinsley played all 17 games for Cincinnati last year.
