The Cincinnati Bengals hit their first wave of real adversity during the 2026 season in Sunday's road loss to the Steelers. They had a golden opportunity to start 1-0 in the AFC North and 3-0 in the division that special teams were predominantly responsible for squandering.
Thankfully, as Joe Burrow said throughout the offseason, this roster is much better than years past. There are actually viable in-house solutions (or outside reunions, more on that in a second) who can be part of the solution to help Cincinnati rally from a demoralizing defeat.
In lieu of Swayze Bozeman getting promoted to starting green dot linebacker over the still-struggling Barrett Carter, which won't happen, the Bengals can make a few savvy internal tweaks to optimize their depth chart and their results on the field ahead of Week 4's duel with the Jacksonville Jaguars at Paycor Stadium.
Mitchell Tinsley's return to Bengals could foreshadow more depth chart changes
As ESPN's Adam Schefter reported, Mitchell Tinsley is coming back to Cincinnati after the Bengals signed him off the Houston Texans practice squad. I'll bet he still knows the playbook. Tinsley is in the fold more due to injuries to Colbie Young and Andrei Iosivas than anything else, but still, I respect how the Bengals weren't content to stand pat.
Below are a few other moves I'd like to see after Tinsley's immediate promotion to the active roster, where I presume he'll be the new WR4 over muffed punt maven Ke'Shawn Williams.
Let Landon Robinson cook as another interior pass rush threat
If you've read Stripe Hype before, this will be the typographical equivalent of a broken record. The Bengals disrespectfully refuse to play Landon Robinson and continue to subject us to nothing burger Kris Jenkins Jr. rotational snaps at defensive tackle.
I will not stop manifesting Robinson's debut. You can't tell me he doesn't bring more juice and raw explosiveness than Jenkins. to the Bengals' interior pass rush.
At a certain point, Dexter Lawrence can't do it alone. Someone has to capitalize on all the double teams he draws. Jonathan Allen looked like a shell of himself in Week 3, and it may be due to a knee injury that popped up on last week's injury report. It's time to try something else, because Jenkins and T.J. Slaton Jr. are not acceptable solutions.
Unless B.J. Hill is coming back imminently, and there's no indication that he is, there's no excuse not to play Robinson in Week 4 against the Jaguars.
Call up Russ Yeast from the practice squad to improve safety depth
Bryan Cook and Kyle Dugger came out of Week 3 banged up. That leaves, uh, Jordan Battle and special teams ace PJ Jules as the only other safeties on the active roster. It's a no-brainer to promote Russ Yeast from the taxi squad if you ask me.
I wouldn't rule out either Jules or Yeast taking over for Battle in the starting lineup, either. Although Battle had an interception this past Sunday, it was off a lucky ricochet. He doesn't look as good in coverage as he did in 2025, and his angles in run support and his tackling technique leave a lot to be desired.
Not saying Yeast is some world beater, but the Bengals are suddenly staring down yet another reckoning for the decision to let Jessie Bates go in free agency many moons ago.
Give Josh Newton some activity at cornerback
I don't know why the coaching staff is so adamant to play rookie third-rounder Tacario Davis. Yes, he has far superior physical tools to Josh Newton, but he's also proven to be a liability with a critical penalty in every single game so far and a downright dreadful 29.8 PFF grade.
Newton has his flaws, yet he's also more experienced, is better suited to play nickelback, and allows an 89.9 passer rating through two seasons. The Bengals won't make him active on game days.
No chance Newton is worse than Davis in coverage. Look, we got in trouble last season by letting linebackers Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. take their lumps to a fault. The same thing is happening so far with Davis. At least try to trot "Fig" out there!
Also, the other Davis, Jalen Davis, has struggled as Cincinnati's starting nickel. Newton could help out there as well. It's a worth a shot to give him...a shot.
Now that he's been in the coach's doghouse for a while, I'll bet Newton would be fired up for a chance to contribute and give better effort as a tackler, where he'd admittedly been poor on in the past. Being on the roster bubble despite his coverage chops and the lack of action this year to date may have been just the fire Fig needed under his rear to realize his underrated potential.
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