Familiar face returns to the Bengals and there’s a path for him to see the field for the very first time
The Cincinnati Bengals altered their practice squad Tuesday in preparation for their Week 7 battle against the Baltimore Ravens. A rookie with Cincinnati ties claimed one of the open spots.
The Cincinnati Bengals altered their practice squad Tuesday in preparation for their Week 7 battle against the Baltimore Ravens.
Safety Russ Yeast has been signed off the practice squad to the active roster. Yeast is taking the roster spot of tigh it’s always waiting there for yout end Tanner Hudson, who was placed on the Reserve/Injured list Monday.
Cincinnati’s practice squad was then tweaked further with the release of S Isaiah Nwokobia, who was originally an undrafted free agent signing by the Bengals back in May. The rookie spent the last two weeks on the practice squad.
These moves created two vacancies on the practice squad. Linebacker Emany Johnson filled one of them. Johnson was a UDFA free agent signee of the Dallas Cowboys in 2024, and spent his rookie season with on Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers practice squads. He stayed in L.A. for all of 2025, but was a part of any team to start the 2026 season.
The second vacancy was filled by a player who has known Cincinnati his whole life.
Josh Kattus returns to Bengals
Rookie TE Josh Kattus has taken the other available practice squad opening for the Bengals. Kattus, like Nwokobia, was signed by the club following the 2026 NFL Draft. He stayed on the off-season roster all the way up until final cuts when he was waived. He was not sign back to the practice squad directly following roster cutdown day, and he had been available ever since.
Kattus stuck out as a UDFA signing because he was one of two TEs brought in by Cincinnati this off-season. Seventh-round pick Jack Endries was the other. But Kattus also had a connection to the Bengals before signing his first NFL contract with them. He’s the son of former Bengals TE Eric Kattus, a Cincinnati native who played six years for his hometown team from 1986-1991. The elder Kattus appeared in 83 games, making seven starts, and caught 66 receptions for 698 yards and five touchdowns during his run with the Bengals.
The Kattus’s stuck around in the Queen City, giving Josh the chance to grow up around his dad’s former team. He attended Moeller High School and ended up playing college football at Kentucky.
A shot to play?
Cincinnati brought Kattus back because of Hudson’s injury. He now gives the Bengal five TEs in the building, with four on the active roster including Endries, and Kattus can be elevated off the practice squad a maximum of three times.
Kattus earned a reputation as a quality inline blocker at UK. That ability could make him valuable in certain weeks when the Bengals want to run the ball more often. If there are any more injuries to the position group, Kattus would be the first one help out as a reserve.
Cincinnati is comfortable with Drew Sample, Erick All Jr., and Endries handling the inline blocking on a week-to-week basis. Backup offensive lineman Jacob Bayer has also been called upon to act as an extra tight end in their jumbo packages.
Kattus won’t be needed immediately, but the path for him to see the field for the very first time in his career does exist because of his specialized skillset.
