Charlie Jones opens Bengals-Browns with 100-yard kickoff return

The Bengals had an early lead over the Browns thanks to Charlie Jones

The AFC North Battle of Ohio saw a touchdown on the opening kickoff.

Charlie Jones of the Bengals collected the football and took off. He wasn’t stopped and had a 100-yard kickoff return.

After the PAT, Cincy was out fast, 7-0.

Bengals’ Charlie Jones takes opening kickoff for 100-yard TD vs. Browns

Charlie Jones put the team on his back to start Week 7.

The Cincinnati Bengals started their Week 7 game against the Cleveland Browns with a bang.

On the opening kickoff of this year’s first Battle of Ohio, wideout Charlie Jones took the kick back 100 yards for a score, toe-tapping his way down the sideline before extending for the score.

The Bengals threw out a new wrinkle that appeared to play a big role in the score. Tight end Drew Sample, known for his prowess as a blocker, was back there as the lone guy in front of Jones and threw a key block to spring the return.

Here is a look at the play that put the Bengals up 7-0.

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Bengals injury updates on Charlie Jones and Zack Moss are good news

Some important injury updates for the Bengals after the first game of the preseason.

The Cincinnati Bengals avoided major injuries during the first preseason game of the summer on Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But there were a few issues.

For one, promising wideout Charlie Jones couldn’t suit up after suffering an injury earlier in the week that appeared significant. Two, running back Zack Moss was a surprising scratch from the game after appearing fine all week.

After the game, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor provided updates on both — and it was good news on both fronts.

On Jones, Taylor revealed one of his top kick returners avoided a major issue: “He’ll be week-to-week. He banged knees with one of the DBs on that play. He’ll be kind of week-to-week with that.”

And on Moss, the guy who could very well lead the team in carries next season, it simply came down to  non-football stuff: “He (Zack Moss) got sick last night and didn’t feel great today, so it didn’t make sense to get him around the guys.”

Good news for the Bengals who, at a minimum, could use Jones as a lethal returner on special teams and Moss as that combo back with Chase Brown to give the offense some versatility and juice.

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Bengals might have avoided serious Charlie Jones injury

New details suggest Bengals WR Charlie Jones’ injury isn’t as bad as it looked.

It sounds like the Cincinnati Bengals might have avoided a serious injury with wide receiver Charlie Jones after all.

Jones left practice on a cart after suffering an injury at Paycor Stadium on Thursday and wasn’t made available for the media after practice.

But from the looks of a writeup from Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com, which includes a comment from wideout Andrei Iosivas, the injury might not be nearly as bad as it seemed at the time:

_Wide receiver Charlie Jones, another one of those leapers from rookie to sophomore who was having a productive camp, got carted off the field after a play in seven-on-seven. He caught a pass, turned up field, and went down. Iosivas thought he heard knees knocking and judging from some of the smiles and jokes relayed from the locker room, they were hoping it wasn’t significant.

That would be a huge boon for Jones and the Bengals.

Jones heads into his sophomore year fighting for a chance to play with the base offense after Tyler Boyd’s departure in free agency. He’s seemingly behind Iosivas and potentially even rookie Jermaine Burton in that regard, but his skill on special teams as a returner is mostly unquestioned compared to the rest of the roster.

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Bengals training camp sees another WR starting to break out

Yet another Bengals wide receiver is starting to blow up at training camp.

So far at Cincinnati Bengals training camp, most of the non-Ja’Marr Chase talk about wide receivers has centered on the Andrei Iosivas breakout and the exciting arrival of free agent Hakeem Butler.

But Charlie Jones is starting to make some noise, too.

Jones, the sophomore with the wicked punt return touchdown and untimely injury as a rookie, still remains in the conversation for the No. 3 wideout spot.

Just look at commentary from Bengals backup Jake Browning, courtesy of Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com: “I think (Jones), was pretty fast last year and now he’s getting a feel for the offense. You can get a lot of confidence going from year one to year two. He did a good job against Cover Two, getting the friendly angle. Being on the same page, knowing what the coverage is.”

Not only that, Hobson says that Jones has packed five to seven pounds of muscle onto his frame without losing speed.

Jones has played both the boundary and slot in camp and just Tuesday caught two touchdowns. So while his skillset figures to keep him as a major presence on special teams, there’s a lot of time left for him to prove he deserves more reps in the base offense, too.

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Charlie Jones getting shot at kick returner during Bengals OTAs

Charlie Jones gets his shot on returns.

The Cincinnati Bengals, like any other team in the league, are currently going through voluntary work and that includes adapting to the league’s changes to kickoffs.

Cincinnati has elected to handle this new wrinkle by dispatching second-year wideout Charlie Jones on returns during OTAs.

Jones, who flashed huge upside as a punt returner last year and even took one punt back for a touchdown, could be the ideal fit as special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons grapples with the changes.

It’s a big chance for Jones, who won’t necessarily see the field a ton in the base offense despite Tyler Boyd’s departure due to the arrivals of free agent tight end Mike Gesicki and rookie wideout Jermaine Burton.

The league provided a breakdown of the new rules.

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Bengals will give Charlie Jones a shot as primary kick returner

After some electric punt returns, Charlie Jones will get a chance at kickoffs.

Kickoffs and speical teams are a huge topic around the NFL right now after the recent rules changes.

That includes the Cincinnati Bengals, with the subject of who might return kicks next year a question.

As it turns out, after an electric, short stint as a punt returner next year, sophomore Charlie Jones will get a look, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:

Yes, Jones is going to get a shot at kickoffs. He didn’t return one as a rookie after 45 kick returns in college, headlined by his 2021 season at Iowa when he took one back and averaged 25.4 yards for a year he ran back 25 kicks. Jones has shown adroit lateral moves.

Jones took one punt back for a touchdown last season as a rookie, so it only makes sense that his workload would expand.

That said, the Bengals have already brought back running back Trayveon Williams and could add more competition for the role via the draft soon.

Looking ahead to next year, the addition of Mike Gesicki could eat up a chunk of the base offense’s snaps that used to go to Tyler Boyd, so Jones getting more work on special teams is the likely move.

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Bengals make roster moves before TNF vs. Ravens

Charlie Jones is back as part of new Bengals roster moves.

The Cincinnati Bengals made a couple of notable roster moves before the “Thursday Night Football” showdown against the Baltimore Ravens kicked off.

As fans have been hoping, the team activated rookie wideout Charlie Jones to the 53-man roster. The move gives Cincinnati a spark not only in the base offense, but on special teams returns, considering Jones had already scored once in that capacity before a stint on injured reserve.

The Bengals also announced the elevation of wide receiver Shedrick Jackson from the practice squad to the active roster, a standard elevation that will revert him back to the practice squad on the Monday after the game.

Jones suffered a thumb injury that required surgery but was cleared and activated to return to practice last week. The Bengals won’t have wideouts Tee Higgins and Andrei Iosivas on Thursday night due to injuries.

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Bengals downgrade rookie WR Charlie Jones to out vs. Texans

The re-debut for Charlie Jones will have to wait.

The Cincinnati Bengals won’t have rookie receiver Charlie Jones for Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans.

Saturday, after making two other roster moves at the wide receiver position, the Bengals didn’t activate Jones to the 53-man roster by the 4 p.m. ET deadline, ruling him out.

Cincinnati opened the 21-day window for Jones’ return from IR this week and can activate him at any point during that three-week period.

With Tee Higgins confirmed out and Ja’Marr Chase questionable, it was safe to wonder if Jones would get activated for the game against Houston. Instead, the team opted for precaution as he misses a sixth game due to a thumb injury that required surgery.

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Bengals make roster moves before Week 10 vs. Texans

Some roster moves for the Bengals.

The Cincinnati Bengals have elevated wide receivers Stanley Morgan and Shedrick Jackson to the active roster for Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans.

This comes on the heels of the revelation that Tee Higgins won’t be able to play against the Texans after injuring his hamstring in practice.

Unless the Bengals make another move before kickoff, it would also seem to hint the team won’t activate rookie Charlie Jones to the active roster after his practice window was opened this week as he looks to come back from IR.

These moves are classified as standard elevations, so both wideouts will revert to the practice squad on the Monday following the game.

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