Bengals wide receiver Dohnte Meyers, the CFL import who looks like a roster spot is his to lose, spread out his No. 81 jersey on the chair in front of his Paycor Stadium locker after Saturday night’s 27-9 preseason win over the Bears.

Then he snapped a photo of it with his phone and explained, "It's a tradition. It started in Canada.

"Just reminds me of collective memories. Sometimes I look at all the jerseys I've worn and all the plays and reminisce a little bit."

He'll be able to wax nostalgically about Saturday in a game he drew ever closer to making an NFL team. He had six more touches for 50 yards, five of them catches to go with another nine-yard jet sweep, and he added two punt returns and two kick returns with the highlight a 29-yard burner off a punt.

Quarterback Joe Burrow gave Meyers the franchise seal of approval after last week's opener when he revealed how Meyers drove from Atlanta on a moment's notice to throw with him. Backup quarterback Joe Flacco throws to him all the time in practice. On Saturday, the next quarterback, Josh Johnson, said Meyers' game has "no limitations."

"He's showing all the quarterbacks have confidence in him," Johnson said. "You don't need to say a lot when you've got Joe speaking out about you. Flacco always throws the ball to him. When I'm in there I throw the ball to him. It's a reason."

The coaches obviously feel Meyers is comfortable enough with the offense because they moved him all over the yard before the snap on Saturday. But go to a play where he didn't move, but simply adjusted.

Go to the first drive. It gets to the heart of the matter because they were going against the Bears'  No. 1 defense, and Meyers caught four balls for 32 yards.

On third-and-10, the Bears all-out blitzed and Meyers, working out of the slot, cut off his route and headed to the sideline, and Johnson hit him in stride for 14 yards.

"We checked the play. It changes the routes," Meyers said. "Being in the slot, we can have different calls. Knowing what to do on an assignment allows us to capitalize on opportunities like that."

Which is exactly what coaches want to see when they're cutting the team. Reliability.

"I just felt like it was an opportunity to showcase the multiple things I can be," Meyers said.

Colbie Not So Young

Fourth-rounder Colbie Young continues to play more like a veteran. He walked out with his first NFL touchdown ball when Johnson threw him a pearl in stride down the left sideline from 17 yards out on perfectly crafted go ball. Young fried his man, and Johnson led him on a night Young was the team's leading receiver with 58 yards on three catches.

"His patience was awesome," Johnson said of the score. "We talk a lot about patience vs. press. Young guys struggle with that. They just want to go now. What he did, he worked it. He stopped his feet. It was a nice throw to judge where he's going and lead him and let him go make a play."

But this may have been even better. Go back to the first drive and that No. 1 defense. Young had bobbled and lost a contested catch with cornerback Dontae Manning. Three plays later on third-and-14. Johnson went right back to him on the sideline with Manning in his face, Young grabbed it and somehow kept his feet in.

"Same defense. Same look. Pitch made a great call," Johnson said of offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher. "That's where the ball is supposed to go. On the first one, I had an option either side. The second one, the corner gave me the same look. He missed the first one, he'll get the second one."

Slants and Screens

By the way, head coach Zac Taylor gave Pitcher the play-calling duties Saturday as he has been known to do in the preseason. How good was he? Look at what the two quarterbacks did.

Johnson is rarely used in practice, and Sean Clifford is used even less. Johnson racked up a triple-digit passer rating on 15 of 23 and two touchdowns, and Clifford, who has been barely seen in the team drills this training camp, threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to college free agent wide receiver Noah Thomas while missing just five of his 15 throws …

"Pitch did an excellent job. Before the game tonight, he did an excellent job," Taylor said. "Great prep all week, preparing for this practice, (then) calling the game. I know he had a great feel for it. So, I thought he did an excellent job." …

Taylor emphasized to his team after it was over that the defense stopped the Bears 12 times on 14 third-downs. Holding Bears starting quarterback Caleb Williams to a field goal in the red zone was a lift to open the game.

And there were plenty of heroes, but start with seventh-rounder Landon Robinson, the Navy defensive tackle. After a half-sack in the opener, he came up with 1.5 sacks Saturday. Teaming with edge Isaiah Foskey on one, he played off a long block and hustled into the quarterback.

"Effort sacks," Robinson said. "Those are big on the defensive line."

As he did last week, he saluted to celebrate. But he noticed Saturday it began to catch on.

"A lot of guys were doing it on the sidelines. The older guys get a kick out of it," Robinson said. "I was over there fighting for breath, and everyone is saluting me."  …

If anyone also needs to be saluted, it is the sixth-rounder, Duke's Brian Parker II. He never came off the field. He started at left guard and played there until 10 minutes into the third quarter, when he switched to right guard. He took the last three snaps at center.

"I've been pleased that Brian has picked it up and never batted an eye at where we're putting him," Taylor said. "We'll assess obviously how he played at the different spots tonight, but we've been pleased with the training camp he's had."

Parker said he's getting most of his snaps in practice at left guard, so there are a few plays at right he wants back: "I just have to work on my footwork at right, but I feel really good at left and good at center. Wherever they want me to play, I'm happy." …

Parker played some tackle at Duke, and Taylor said after the game that the swing tackle job is still up in the air, but Taylor indicated that's not in the cards yet.

"We're having him at guard primarily. He's proven that he can be an emergency center for us, which is good if you're in a game, but really pleased with his development," Taylor said …