Charlie Jones is shooting for a number.
First, he wanted to know the number.
It is five.
That's the Bengals career record for most kick and punt return touchdowns held by recent Ring of Honor inductee Lemar Parrish. After Sunday's 98-yard kick return that opened the game, Jones' number is three.
But it sounds like he wants at least six.
"Is that the number? I'd like to get as many as I can get," Jones said Monday.
Given Jones grew up in Bears country in suburban Deerfield, Ill., this one may have been worth two. The whole family came down, and his aunt, uncle, and cousin were perched in the front row of the end zone as Jones came steaming in with the first home opening kick return in Bengals history.
So Jones did the Paycor Plunge and jumped the wall to join the fun.
"It was one of those once in a lifetime kind of opportunities. We got some cool video and pictures that we'll talk about forever," Jones said. "My brother was sitting with them before the game before he went back to sit with my dad (in the family section)."
Nobody touched him until his heel was brushed at the Bears 3 as he saw the big blocks from linebacker Oren Burks, tight end Tanner Hudson, and defensive end Cedric Johnson.
Special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons couldn't say enough about Johnson. It was his first game all season since ripping up his calf before they put the pads on in training camp, so he went 28 snaps in the kicking game with just two days of practice in pads.
Johnson also opened up the gap for fellow edge Joseph Ossai to penetrate inside and block Cairo Santos' 47-yard field goal attempt at the end of the half.
In his 23rd season with the Bengals, Simmons is the longest-tenured special teams coach in the game and he's never heard of any group doing what it did Sunday in a special teams feast. Not only did Jones go coast-to-coast and Ossai block a field goal, but Burks recovered an onside kick to set up the go-ahead touchdown.
A kicking game hat trick.
Onside kicks these days, with the rules that stipulate you have to declare them first, restrict the cover team so much that only 6% of onside kicks were recovered last season.
So Simmons says more of the focus is on making the kick hard to field, and McPherson delivered with a spinner off the side of his foot that took a crazy hop and hit a Bear's cleat.
"That's the goal of it," Simmons said. "He kicked it sideways."
Cheap shot
NFL sack champion Trey Hendrickson says he not only got re-injured on a cheap shot from Jets guard John Simpson last week that took him out of Sunday's game, he was originally hurt on Oct. 12 in Green Bay by somebody he didn't see who knocked him out of the Oct. 16 win against Pittsburgh.
"Oh yeah. The injury report said I re-aggravated my hip, so it's public," Hendrickson said Monday. "Two games I didn't see my opponent. That's new, too. Right in the back, I especially enjoy that."
If Hendrickson sounds sarcastic, he was. Very. He's also frustrated he can't play and isn't sure when he can. "This is unchartered territory for me," Hendrickson said. In his five-year Bengals' career, he had missed one game before this season.
"I think Zac said I'm day-to-day. Today, I'm not playing football. Tomorrow, we'll see what comes," Hendrickson said. "I have a standard for my game and didn't play up to that standard (against the Jets). It was evident.
"Guys who played through injuries: Sam Hubbard, DJ Reader, Cam Jordan … How they loved the game and how they continued to fight adversity. I have a new found respect."
After leading the NFL with 35 sacks the past two seasons, Hendrickson has four in seven games. He ended a hold-in late in training camp when he got a raise, so Tuesday's trade deadline is a raging media topic and he says his health has nothing to do with it.
"You are where your feet are. I'm blessed to be where I am I right now," Hendrickson said. "I don't think that's something that's reality. I'm excited to go home and play with my son."
Battle Joined
After Sunday's game, Bengals safety Jordan Battle said he needed a day to soak in what had transpired on the Paycor Stadium turf and promised to talk to the media.
Battle, good to his word, stood in front of his locker Monday and took on all comers asking the toughest questions an NFL player has to answer.
Why is his unit struggling and how can it get better?
The Bears sent the Bengals defense into the bye week after allowing 86 points and more than 1,000 yards the last two weeks. Battle expressed faith in the scheme and defensive coordinator Al Golden, and has an idea how to make things better.
"Just go out there and play fast, play ball. That's one of the main things we can do," Battle said. "Play fast. If you're in the gap, shoot that gap, make that play. If you don't make the play but you're in the right gap, it allows someone to make a play. I just feel like guys have to do their part and enable guys to make their plays."
With the Bengals leading, 42-41, with 23 seconds left and the Bears on their own 42, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams rifled a pass over the middle to rookie tight end Colston Loveland, and he bounced off Battle at the Bengals 40 and scored the winning touchdown.
"I just have to wrap up," Battle said. "Get him on the ground for a field goal. The kicker wasn't kicking well, he probably would have missed. I have to make more of a secure tackle and not go for the big hit."
Golden, admiring how quickly Williams got rid of it, indicated that play's not all on Battle, one of five Bengals who missed two tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.
"I think if we could've had him hold it for one count, we could have got the ball to a checkdown, used up some time, and we didn't do it," Golden said. "Inside leverage by the nickel (Josh Newton) so it couldn't be a line drive throw. You can't throw a line drive in there. I think we are going to have a chance to get there."
And, without Hendrickson, the Bengals' pass rush did much of the day, hitting Williams seven times and sacking him twice. According to PFF, Ossai had five pressures and Johnson and edge Myles Murphy had three each. Again, Johnson showing up on 16 scrimmage snaps in his 2025 debut after such limited work.
"He had a great attitude. He was out for so long that he was an unknown. We never even really saw him in pads," Golden said. "He worked really hard to put himself in that position. I'd say it was a positive outing for Ced and something we're hopeful he builds on. I like Ced a lot. I like his approach. I think he's versatile. He can set the edge. He's strong but has enough versatility to drop."
Slants and Screens
Taylor let quarterback Joe Flacco go home to New Jersey Monday to see his wife and five children after one of the most incredible months in Bengals history.
After he threw for a career 470 yards Sunday with an injured AC joint in his throwing shoulder, Taylor had an idea how he felt after the loss.
"I'm sure he feels awful. I'm sure he feels terrible, and because I know what he went through last week, I know what he sacrificed for this team, people may never know the full extent of what he did, but what an unbelievable, unbelievable week that he had, performance that he had," Taylor said.
"We sent him out of here. 'Get out of here. Get out of here. You need to go home. You've done everything you can do for us right now. You're not going to do us much good for us today.' You can't get it out of him. I can't get him to tell me he's in pain. I know it. I can see it. I know what it looks like. But you can't get him to say it, which says a lot about him." …
Battle, as well as safety Geno Stone and Taylor, endorsed Golden.
"He's a great football coach. He's doing everything he can to uncover every single stone to make us play better," Taylor said. "I mean, we're all sick for the way that these games have gone, him probably as much as anybody else on this planet. And so I trust in him, trust in his staff, that we're going to keep working and get all these guys on the same page, execute on a high level, and be good defense going forward." …
No wonder McPherson's 54-yard field goal try late in the fourth quarter was right down the middle, but a few yards short. He was kicking the quarterback's ball instead of the K-Ball.
And Simmons doesn't like the rule. If the 25-second play clock starts before the field goal team gets lined up, they keep the QB ball instead of exchanging them. The Bengals were deciding whether to go for it on fourth-and-16 down 34-27 with 5:33 left and the clock started. But Simmons said it was at about 22 when they were lined up and said they had the unit out there in plenty of time to exchange the ball.
He says it's the first time it's happened to the Bengals this season, but it has happened. Usually on a hurry-up field goal at the end of half or game with no huddle. But it's often not a long field goal. It happened to the Bears last week in Baltimore when Santos missed a 58-yarder at the halftime gun.
"I see where they're coming from," Simmons said. "But I disagree." …
Besides Hendrickson, rookie edge Shemar Stewart (knee) is also going to see what he looks like after the bye to determine his status for Nov. 16 in Pittsburgh. Stewart got hurt on the next-to-last drive of the game …
Taylor said running back Samaje Perine (ankle) is out a couple of weeks with a high ankle sprain …
Wide receiver Tee Higgins, rung on that hellacious 23-yard catch despite getting held as Paycor shook with 1:11 left, was cleared and didn't have to go into concussion protocol …
