No ESPN before school.

That's what his mother told him when the Reggie Bush highlights got in the way of Mitchell Tinsley eating breakfast before attending kindergarten.

So it's not exactly a surprise to Veronica Bruce some 20 years later that football has consumed her son so much that he made it his profession. Now she and her family tune to ESPN Monday at 8 p.m. to watch Tinsley's latest venture with the Bengals in their preseason game in Washington against his old friends with the Commanders as he bids to stick in the Bengals' elite wide receiver room.

"He knew all of Reggie Bush's stats. He was a huge fan of Jerry Rice. We're talking when he was five, six years old," Veronica Bruce says. "I knew nothing about football. He's a scholar of the game."

Bruce says now she knows "just enough to be dangerous," about the game, but don't let her kid you. Her son says she sounds like a scout. And she can tell you that dating back to Hutchinson Junior College in Kansas, this is his eighth straight new offense. That ability to adapt, she says, reflects his intelligence.

Plugged in to the Bengals app and other outlets buzzing with Tinsley's acrobatic training camp, she hasn't dropped anything, either.

Just on Saturday, her phone blinked with another one of his catches. A confounding grab of quarterback Jake Browning’s Hail Mary about to be picked off by one of two defenders sandwiching Tinsley in the air.

Somehow, he came down with it. That was a few periods after he swiped a leaping end-zone fade off a helmet for a touchdown. He's been a walking video clip as he heads to Washington with a hand reaching in for a spot on the Opening Day 53-man roster.

There is tough, veteran competition laced behind Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Andrei Iosivas, Charlie Jones and Jermaine Burton. Not only is there Tinsley in his third year in the league with two NFL games to his credit, but also sophomore Isaiah Williams, a veteran of last season's Bengals' playoff push, and Kendric Pryor, who has been around three years while playing one game.

Tinsley, who turns 26 next month, returns Monday to where he broke into the league as an undrafted free agent out of Penn State in 2023. That was the last year of head coach Ron Rivera's Washington regime, when he played two games and spent all of his rookie season on the active roster.

Last season in his first year as the head coach of the Commanders, Dan Quinn kept Tinsley on the practice squad for all 17 weeks. But revenge is far from Tinsley's mind.

In fact, pretty much only football is in his thoughts these days after a rather significant last offseason he spent back home in Kansas City. Tinsley added a heavy reading list of sports psychology to his already self-described "workaholic," regimen. Among the authors were trainers of Michael Jordan.

"I always knew I could play. What I'm doing here is no surprise to me," Tinsley says. "It was more mental. Not letting outside factors affect my mindset. How I went about my day. Controlling what I can control and being in the moment. Sometimes you get to the point where it's 'I can't make mistakes.' Thinking too much."

So, while he's pleased to see old teammates such as Commanders Pro Bowl receiver Terry McLaurin, he's only thinking about the many things McLaurin taught him. Not Monday's matchup.

"Using the skill that you train for," Tinsley says. "Trusting your training. When you do that, whether it's a win or a loss, you can be OK with the result because that's what you trained for. If anything, if you lost, or lose a rep, it's an opportunity for growth."

It turns out "Scary Terry," isn't.

"He is to the defense, but he's a great teammate," Tinsley says. "If I was a superstar or a No. 1 receiver, that's how I would be. Ja'Marr and Tee are similar. He's a great role model on and off the field. Just how he handles himself. Any question I had, he helped me. He'd have the receivers over to his crib for barbecue and stuff like that."

Tinsley had a front-row seat last season for Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels' record-breaking rookie year, and he was on the Washington sideline at Paycor Stadium for the heavyweight bout between Daniels and the Bengals' Joe Burrow. Daniels outpointed Burrow, 38-33, in an electric game where the teams scored 12 of 13 drives that didn't end the half or game.

"(Daniels) is a great player. He just handled all the pressure like a vet," Tinsley said. "He didn't think too much. He was in the moment."

Now he's one of the few receivers who have shared an offense with both Daniels and Burrow.

"If (Burrow's) not the best, he's one of the best," Tinsley says. "Just to be able to run routes for him, make plays for him, just to be part of his journey is exciting."

It was his mother who made Tinsley aware that Burrow had shouted him out at a news conference for his play early on in camp.

"He's staying off social media during this time and rightfully so," Veronica Bruce says. "I pick and choose what I tell him. I thought that was noteworthy enough."

After an offseason of taking notes, on this Monday ESPN is very much allowed in Mitch Tinsley's house.

"A subconscious mind," Tinsley says, "does a better job of controlling your motor skills."