The biggest names on the Bengals' Friday injury report heading into Sunday's game (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's FOX19) in Miami are questionable.
Even though both of his wide receivers went full Friday, head coach Zac Taylor is, for the moment, calling Ja'Marr Chase (concussion) and Tee Higgins (groin/neck) questionable.
Chase is still in concussion protocol. Higgins didn't work until this Friday. Clearly, there are more things Taylor must see before he gives the go-ahead for Sunday.
Same with starting safety Bryan Cook (ankle). He also went full Friday, for the first time since he got hurt on the first series of the Sept. 27 game in Pittsburgh, and Taylor marked him questionable. After Thursday's practice, Cook indicated it's not easy to make a call, and that's why there hasn't been one yet.
"You know how much I love my teammates, and I want to be playing," Cook told a media gathering. "But I can't be selfish in that aspect. At the same time, I feel if I'm not being who they need me to be on the field, I'm hurting my teammates. So I never let that happen."
Rookie wide receiver Colbie Young (knee), who had his first full practice Thursday since he hurt his knee on the first snap of his first NFL start in Pittsburgh two weeks ago, went limited Friday. Taylor indicated Young is still progressing, but they're just trying to get a bead on where he is, and he's also classified as questionable.
The Bengals haven't made any outside moves with No. 3 receiver Andrei Iosivas (thumb) on injured reserve, so undrafted practice-squadders Jordan Moore and/or Noah Thomas stand ready to make their NFL debuts if needed. And so, too, is practice squad vet Ke'Shawn Williams, although he has been used more as a returner than receiver.
Taylor continues to be impressed with how Young, a fourth-rounder out of Georgia, is adapting to the system. It's just that Young having 20 career snaps (and two catches), Dohnte Meyers 121, and Mitch Tinsley 331, there's not a heck of a lot of experience behind Chase and Higgins.
"(Young) is really physical. He hasn't had a lot of opportunities in the pass game, but he's been where we need him to be," Taylor said after Friday's practice. "Just felt like he had a great understanding of what we're trying to do. And he was doing a good job to try and create a role for him that expanded what he could do for us a little bit. That went out the window quick."
There were some definitive moves. Right guard Dalton Risner (knee), who went full Friday, and defensive tackle B.J. Hill (Achilles), who didn't practice Friday but went limited Thursday and full Wednesday, are good to go as Hill eyes his first game since the opener. Safety Jordan Battle (hamstring) went full the last two days, and same with linebacker Barreett Carter (ankle).
Taylor continues to manage his two starting defensive tackles as they're set for Sunday. Dexter Lawrence II (wrist) went limited Wednesday and Thursday and didn't go Friday, and Jonathan Allen (knee) didn't go until he went limited Friday.
Backup safety Kyle Dugger (quad) is out and backup linebacker Swayze Bozeman (groin) is questionable.
R.I.P Iron Mike
Bengals center and captain Ted Karras, boyhood fan of the Bears, the team of his grandfather Ted Karras Sr., has fond memories of Mike Ditka in the wake of Ditka's death at age 86 Friday.
He met him a few times and had a great story.
Ted Sr. was a vet guard in Ditka's rookie year of 1961.
"The rookie Ditka comes over after a drive, and I guess says, in effect, 'The O-line needs to get off their fat asses,'" Karras recalled. "Ted Karras Sr. got up and bopped him right in the face."
Two tough customers.
"RIP Mike Ditka," Karras said. "Legend. Great man. Sad to hear, but a life well lived."
Slants and Screens
Zac Taylor not only met Ditka the day before he went to his first NFL game as a nine-year-old on Dec. 13, 1992 at Soldier Field in a game the Bears, quarterbacked by Jim Harbaugh, whacked the Bubby Brister Steelers, 30-6. Taylor had his photo taken with Ditka and Taylor's five-year-old brother Press, now the Bears offensive coordinator, n front of the Bears' Super Bowl trophy in their facility …
Taylor's father, Sherwood Taylor, worked with a coach on Ditka's staff and the rest is history for the nine-year-old kid in the Oklahoma sweatshirt who can only remember William "Refrigerator, Perry throwing snowballs while driving a golf cart at the Saturday practice, and fans fighting with their shirts off. Plus, the 21-degree wind chill was easy to remember, too …
"It was the coldest I ever remember being," Taylor said …
Plus, he remembers Bears Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary being honored since it was his last home game before he retired …
The Bengals' Chase Brown is one of three NFL running backs with more than 20 catches …
After last week's personal-best 11, Brown has 21, one behind leader Jahmyr Gibbs of the Lions …
… And tied with the Rams' Kyren Williams …
You'd have to say Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis is in good company. Willis and Hall of Famers Drew Brees, with the Saints in 2007, and Kurt Warner, with the Rams in 2002, are the only quarterbacks since 2000 to start and lose each of their team's first four games with fewer than two touchdown passes …
The Dolphins have one touchdown pass in 2026 …
The 2000 Steelers, with Kent Graham and Kordell Stewart, had no touchdown passes in the first four games of 2000 …
