It's pretty obvious which Bengals starter must be benched after Week 4

Jordan Battle. Why not just cut to the chase here? The Cincinnati Bengals can no longer afford to start Jordan Battle at safety.

He's not good. He was good last season in coverage, but whether you want to blame the hamstring tweak from Week 3 or anything else, Battle is terrible. He's always struggled to tackle. That hasn't improved.

With Bryan Cook out during Sunday's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the secondary help up quite well. Except for Battle.

Jordan Battle has quickly become the Bengals' biggest liability

Hopefully the ankle injury Cook is dealing with heals soon, because part of the reason Jordan Battle couldn't be benched in Week 4 was due to a lack of options. The Bengals literally only had three safeties to choose from.

Cincinnati was on the bring of forcing a second straight three and out. They had Jags tight end Brenton Strange dead to rights way in front of the first down marker on 3rd and 18.

Alas, Battle whiffed on the tackle so badly you almost thought he was throwing the game. I'm not being serious about that allegation, but seriously, that's how pathetic his effort was.

Jules just about doubled Yeast's snap count (40 to 21) and didn't look out of place in the defensive backfield. Although he's normally a special teams ace, that works in Jules' favor. Because he can, you know, actually tackle.

I would not be opposed at all to Battle being cut outright at this point. Trade for someone who looks like they care about the sport.

The only NFL-sanctioned due to rights issues video I can show of Battle's dreadful latest outing comes on this Chris Rodriguez touchdown run. It's difficult to see from the broadcast angle, but just watch No. 27. Terrible angle, and it's as if he just quits on the play.

Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden must be coming out of his skull when the team sits down to review film every week. This isn't a one-off from Battle. He's done stuff like this for years. The reverse end zone angle is pretty damning.

I was willing to overlook it all because Battle was so solid in coverage as a deep safety in 2025. I figured his trajectory would keep trending upward. Instead, he's just regressed, and he's doing himself no favors in the midst of a contract year.

If Cook can play the next game, there's no better time to remove Battle from the starting lineup in Week 5 against the winless Miami Dolphins. Whether Cook plays or not, though, I'd be much more comfortable with Yeast than Battle at this point. That's how bad it's gotten.

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