The Bengals’ injury luck took another hit back in Week 6 when tight end Mike Gesicki went down early against the Green Bay Packers. In Joe Flacco’s first start with Cincinnati, the veteran pass-catcher suffered a pectoral injury in the first half, headed to the medical tent, then straight to the locker room.
He never saw a target before being ruled out, forcing the Bengals to lean on Tanner Hudson, who stepped in with a couple of early grabs while an already sputtering offense limped to just 65 total yards before halftime.
Now there’s finally some positive movement on that front. According to Adam Schefter, the Bengals are opening the practice window for tight end Mike Gesicki, allowing him to get back on the field and begin ramping up with the team.
For an offense that has been searching for reliable options in the middle of the field, even the possibility of Gesicki’s return is a meaningful development.
Cincinnati is also watching a far bigger rehab story play out in parallel: Joe Burrow’s push to get back from his turf toe injury. As Jeremy Fowler reported in an ESPN piece with Dan Graziano, Burrow’s mindset is simple enough: he wants to play, record be damned.
He’s already been back in 7-on-7 work and is angling for full-team reps, even as the Bengals sit at 3-7 and all but buried in the AFC race.
That creates the larger Bengals rumors cloud hanging over this stretch: does the team allow its franchise quarterback to return just to grind through meaningless games behind a defense that has already wasted multiple explosive offensive outings?
Graziano notes that the coaching staff and front office might quietly be incentivized to put Joe Burrow back out there anyway, hoping a late surge helps stabilize job security after a season that has badly missed expectations.
In that context, Gesicki’s practice window opening is part of a broader late-season calculus. Cincinnati is starting to get weapons back, but the front office still has to decide how much risk it’s willing to accept for a roster whose most important pieces are just getting healthy again in a year that might already be lost in the standings.
