As Bengaldom convened this weekend to celebrate the induction of Lemar Parrish and Dave Lapham into the Ring of Honor, one of the members, the great pioneering right tackle Willie Anderson, could only smile as he caught a glimpse of fellow ring member Boomer Esiason.

"Sure, 1997," Anderson said.

Anderson is the only quarterback to play with the two oldest and hottest Bengals quarterbacks ever. He was in his second season in '97 when Esiason, the former NFL MVP, came off the bench at age 36 in his Hot As Hell reunion tour and quarterbacked the Bengals to a 4-1 finish with a 106.9 passer rating.

Then, 11 years later in his final season, Anderson was in Ravens rookie Joe Flacco's huddle as Baltimore drove to that rock-em-sock-em AFC title game the Steelers won.

"I would talk to Joe Flacco back then about our games we had with the Bengals playing Pittsburgh," Anderson recalled. "Now Flacco is a quarterback for the Bengals. Crazy."

Now Flacco has his own Bengals-Steelers story to tell after the last time out, a 33-31 Thursday night victory he chipped the Steelers for three touchdowns and 342 yards in his second-best game ever against Pittsburgh.

Flacco, 40, may not be a Cincinnati icon like Esiason. But he is a former Super Bowl MVP breathing life back into a team. His passer rating sits at 100 in his first two Bengals starts with five touchdowns and no picks off the couch, and no Bengal has ever done that.

"We had Boomer all of training camp and he came in running the same offense he and (Bengals head coach) Bruce Coslet damn near invented," Anderson said. "That's different, but the impact it brought with an older quarterback trying to lift a group of guys who were down for a minute. We had no idea at his age if Boomer could still play. It definitely draws comparison.

"Guys know (Flacco's) a winner. He's been in a bunch of games. Guys know he's been in a bunch of AFC North battles, a guy who's not going to get rattled when he sees the Pittsburgh Steelers, or sees the Baltimore Ravens. Like Boomer did, he came in and lifted a city."

Anderson, whose unique use of hands in pass protection, is taught today, is automatically on next January's list of 15 modern-era finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame balloting because of last year's top-seven finish. He's passing it on at the Willie Anderson Offensive Line Academy in Atlanta, but he knows a thing or two about wide receivers.

What if Esiason had who Flacco has?

"Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins?" Anderson asked. "Oh my God. Forget it."

DJ and Lemar

Parrish had his eyes on the Bengals' DJ Turner II before the last month has put his name in the conversation as an elite cornerback. Naturally, Turner wears his No. 20.

Parrish, the greatest cornerback time forgot, met Turner at Saturday's walkthrough as Parrish's No. 20 was covered above them waiting to be unveiled at Sunday's halftime ceremony.

Parrish, who turns 78 in six weeks, took some time to give Turner, who turned 25 two weeks ago, some tips that are ageless on the corner. He showed Turner how to use his hands to prevent separation and counseled him on what he still calls "The bump and run: Be patient. Don't lunge at him. Let him come to you."

The eight-time Pro Bowler who has 47 career interceptions clearly enjoyed it.

"Great kid. Great meeting him," Parrish said. "He's a heck of a player."

Justin Fields Back In Ohio

Former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields got the nod for the Jets after getting benched for Tyrod Taylor during last week's loss to Carolina. Taylor (knee) was declared out Saturday, giving Fields his first start against Cincinnati.

Fields, 14-36 as a starter, has come off the bench twice to beat the Bengals with clinching third-down runs to seal one-score wins for the Bears in 2021 and the Steelers last season.

Bengals left guard Dalton Risner was added to the injury report before he game with an illness, but was not inactive, leaving the Bengals with eight offensive linemen.

Linebacker Joe Giles-Harris has been activated from the practice squad, probably for special teams reasons with edge Cam Sample (knee), cornerback Marco Wilson, and tight end Cam Grandy all inactive. Also out were were wide receiver Jermaine Burton, defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson and center Matt Lee (knee).