Former Bengals players bye week check-in: Sure-tackling linebacker was there all along

The Cincinnati Bengals have an undeniably improved defense this season overall, but their flaws on that side of the ball are still nagging into the bye week. At least one of their former players could have, in all likelihood, helped the cause.

It's getting to be ridiculous at this point how often Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo has implored Chris Ballard to scoop up so many of his ex-Cincinnati pupils. Germaine Pratt just signed (again). Joe Bachie was starting at one point last season. Mike Hilton played a couple games in Indy in 2025.

Shoot, even Cam Taylor-Britt is on that garbage roster right now LOL. The Colts rank 28th in yards allowed and sixth-worst in scoring defense by the way.

But while all those players are virtual nothing burgers, there is one bright spot on Anarumo's unit: Akeem Davis-Gaither.

Akeem Davis-Gaither is who the Bengals thought he wasn't

To turn the famous Denny Green quote on its head, our boy Akeem Davis-Gaither is racking up some serious tackles for the Colts and isn't totally dreadful in coverage either. PFF has ADG with just a 6.1% missed tackle rate among the 44 total tackles he's officially credited with.

Demetrius Knight Jr. has definitely improved in Year 2. He boasts PFF's seventh-best run defense grade among qualifying linebackers at 81.2. However, Davis-Gaither is 14th-best (74.0). Knight's missed tackle rate is up at 10.6%.

Anyway, saying all this to say, I would quite like a No. 3 linebacker who's a surer tackler than Knight and Barrett Carter (14.7% career miss rate). Wouldn't have cost much to keep ADG once upon a time.

Oh well. I guess we'll see what Jack Kiser can do.

Trey Hendrickson targeting a return just in time to sack Deshaun Watson

And good on him. Trey Hendrickson has missed the Baltimore Ravens' past couple games due to finger surgery to repair a broken bone. They didn't have Lamar Jackson either this past Sunday night against the Falcons. They still won.

On one hand, the Ravens beating Deshaun Watson and the Browns in Week 6 pulls them further away atop the AFC North standings. The upside (besides not having to root for Watson): it could send Cleveland into a quicker tailspin and effectively eliminate them from the division race and Wild Card picture.

Not that one game will do that on its own. It's more just a testament to how pivotal that divisional duel is. Hendrickson would be a major boon to Baltimore's efforts to steal one on the road before hosting the Bengals in Week 7.

You better believe Trey will be back to face Cincinnati. We'll see if he can knock some rust off in Cleveland this weekend before then.

Sure sounds like Ravens head coach Jesse Minter expects to have Hendrickson available in Week 6 with very few implied limitations.

The wait for Godot continues on Broadway

Bit of a running joke here at Stripe Hype from yours truly. I've referred to Joseph Ossai as "Waiting for Godot" in honor of the Samuel Beckett play. Spoiler alert: The plot revolves around two men waiting for Godot, who never arrives.

That's how I felt about Joseph Ossai every single season in Cincinnati. He was the annual breakout candidate whose breakout never came to pass.

For some reason, the New York Jets thought paying Ossai $34.5 million over three years in free agency was a good idea. When you don't know what else to do with your money...

Anyway, I honestly don't want to pile on the guy too much. Ossai has had foot and ankle issues for a while now, and exited Week 5's win over the Browns with an ankle injury. Jets head coach Aaron Glenn announced that Ossai is week-to-week.

The Jets obviously believed in Ossai to be a breakout star, too. Even if he was healthy, though, I'm sorry. I just don't see it. Never have seen it.

And beyond whatever his contributions (or lack thereof) were as a football player during his time with the Bengals, Ossai was apparently a worse leader behind the scenes. He and Hendrickson reportedly bad-mouthed the organization to an impressionable then-rookie Shemar Stewart, and might've nuked his development trajectory in the process.

So anyway. It'd be quite something if the Jets got anything out of Ossai's lucrative free-agent deal. I don't mean that in a facetious way.

If Ossai is ultimately worth anything near what he's making when healthy, Gang Green would have a formidable edge rotation with David Bailey, Will McDonald IV and Kingsley Enagbare in that mix.

Jake Browning signs with the Chargers amid an absolute Justin Herbert dumpster fire

Remember when Justin Herbert vs. Joe Burrow was a debate!? Now, Burrow's longtime backup is joining the Bolts with a real chance to revive his career.

Yes, as the Chargers announced, Browning is only joining the practice squad, but with Trey Lance on injured reserve, Herbert getting constantly whacked in the pocket, and DJ Uiagalelei as the only "competition" at the position, Browning should ascend to QB2 in short order.

I had left Browning for dead as a player after gassing him up last year only to watch him flop in Burrow's place, unlike 2023, when he balled out.

Now that Jalon Daniels went out and crushed the Dallas Cowboys on a short-week Thursday game in only his second NFL start, the Bucs cutting Browning loose looks a lot less like the death knell of his career than it did at the time.

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