Bengals Week 4 Snap Counts vs. Jaguars: Backup safeties, wide receivers jump into the fire together

Cincinnati suffered its second loss of the season Sunday, falling 22-17 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Injures were already impacting the game before the opening kickoff, and proved to be a greater factor as the afternoon went on.

John Sheeran — Cincinnati Bengals News Writer

Oct 5, 2026 10:24 AM EDT

The first month of Cincinnati Bengals football is in the books, and there’s just as much to be excited about as there is to be exasperated about.

Cincinnati suffered its second loss of the season Sunday, falling 22-17 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Injures were already impacting the game before the opening kickoff, and proved to be a greater factor as the afternoon went on.

Here are the snap counts from the Bengals’ defeat to Jacksonville.

Bengals’ Week 4 snap counts vs. Jaguars

Backup safeties split time

Starting safety Bryan Cook couldn’t play with an ankle injury. Backup Kyle Dugger was also out with a quad injury. That left PJ Jules (40) making his first-career start next to Jordan Battle (61).

Of the many problems Cincy had Sunday, Jules was not one of the damaging ones. He survived outside of contributing once to the missed tackle brigade. He was also not given the responsibility of playing the entire game.

Russ Yeast (21) played all the snaps. Jules didn’t as the Bengals opted to rotate next to Battle. Yeast was called up from the practice squad to play his first regular season game since the end of 2024. The results weren’t quite as good in comparison to Jules, though his assignments were a bit tougher as he played mostly on passing downs, whereas Jules had a near even split between the run and pass.

It seemed like Cook was close to playing, which may give him a good shot of suiting up next Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. If both Cook and Dugger are healthy by then, there may need to be a conversation to bench Battle, who continued to with in the open field, and make little-to-no impact in coverage.

Life without Ja’Marr Chase, and then Tee Higgins

Cincinnati was also short on wide receivers entering the weekend, and leave it with even fewer healthy options. Ja’Marr Chase (15) suffered a concussion early in the second quarter and did not return. Tee Higgins (60) exited the contest on the penultimate drive with an adductor.

Losing Chase that early caused for the greater shift. Dohnte Meyers (68) ended up with the most snaps on offense for any player who was subbed out at any point. His 58 passing down snaps were also the most out of all skill players outside of Joe Burrow (76). He turned that into seven receptions for 82 yards through the air. He was responsible for five first downs. It goes without saying that all of these numbers are career-highs for the former CFLer.

Mitch Tinsley (40) also played the most snaps in his career. He started the game as WR4, and ended it as WR2. He finished with three receptions for 49 yards, including the Bengals’ longest play of the day on the final drive that went for 29 yards.

Cincinnati prides itself on its receiving depth, but this is a level no one desires to reach. Chase and Higgins’ statuses for the trip to Miami are up in the air. Practice squad elevations can be made, but Meyers and Tinsley better be ready to start.