Jaguars vs. Bengals
Final score: Jaguars 22, Bengals 17
Writer: Brett Ford
Jacksonville Jaguars
Quarterback
Trevor Lawrence: 18/23 Passing, 227 Yards, TD | 3 Carries
A weird day for Trevor Lawrence as he wasn’t asked to do much with the Jaguars leading for most of the day. He was just OK, not great. The Jacksonville offense only had two red-zone trips all day long and Lawrence finished just 1-for-4 on pass attempts in the red zone. His lone completion went for a score, but managers would certainly like to see more from the former No. 1 overall draft pick.
Running Back
Bhayshul Tuten: 17 Carries, 73 Yards | 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 18 Yards
A solid day for Bhayshul Tuten truthers, at least from a volume and role standpoint. But a brutal day for Tuten truthers and fantasy managers because of what could have been. Tuten should have had a pair of touchdowns, but had a 44-yard touchdown scamper and a 3-yard touchdown push each called back at different points of the game because of penalties.
Chris Rodriguez Jr.: 6 Carries, 35 Yards, TD
Not only did Tuten have a pair of touchdowns called back from penalty, but batterymate Chris Rodriguez Jr. broke off a 25-yard touchdown run on a drive where Tuten was taking a quick breather.
Beautiful blocking for Chris Rodriguez, he puts the Jags up by 12 with 6mins left in the 4th quarter. pic.twitter.com/DhSvgDbdHn
— Fitz (@LaurieFitzptrck) October 4, 2026
Wide Receiver
Brian Thomas Jr.: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 17 Yards, TD
Put Brian Thomas Jr. on the board with a touchdown in Week 4! He finally found the painted area on a 7-yard completion in the second quarter. When things are going this poorly, you have to celebrate the little victories, even if that means doing a victory lap for a touchdown scored by a guy on your fantasy bench.
Nobody covering Brian Thomas jr pic.twitter.com/YZ2TyYg4GI
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) October 4, 2026
Parker Washington: 3 Targets, 1 Reception, 7 Yards
Parker Washington had a quiet day. Like, really quiet. His biggest play was a 39-yard reception that was called back for a penalty. Well, most of it was probably game plan oriented as the Jaguars looked to stay far away from the Bengals best defensive players, cornerbacks DJ Turner and Dax Hill.
The strength of the Bengals' defensive back 7 is DJ Turner and Dax Hill, right?
They got targeted 3 times in this game.
The Jags just threw the ball at everyone else.
Linebackers: 8 targets
Safeties: 6 targets
Edges dropping into Cov: 3 targets
The other CBs: 2 targets— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) October 5, 2026
Jakobi Meyers: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 33 Yards
Another victim of the Bengals’ biggest strength being their corners. Jakobi Meyers was not that involved as Jacksonville worked the ground game and the tight ends, targeting the safeties and linebackers of the Cincinnati defense.
Tight End
Brenton Strange: 8 Targets, 7 Receptions, 95 Yards
Nate Boerkircher: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 15 Yards
Speaking of targeting the linebackers and safeties, look at that Brenton Strange volume! Enjoy it while it lasts because it’s probably more game plan specific than an indication of target distribution to come.
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterback
Joe Burrow: 39/54 Passing, 428 Yards, TD, 2 INT | 3 Carries, 6 Yards, TD
No Ja’Marr Chase? No problem for Joe Cool. The Bengals abandoned the run early and turned things over to their franchise quarterback to the tune of 50-plus pass attempts, and he did not disappoint. And at the postgame press conference, he suggested that the Bengals should throw the ball more! Love this guy and hope he continues slinging the rock.
Joe Burrow's passing chart from today's game vs Jacksonville pic.twitter.com/OtRWO1WT7h
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) October 4, 2026
Running Back
Chase Brown: 9 Carries, 10 Yards | 11 Targets, 11 Receptions, 71 Yards
The run game was gross and the Bengals decided to just omit entirely after a while. The good news for fantasy managers is that Brown was very heavily involved in the pass game to the tune of 11 catches for 71 yards. The best part is that he was on the field for 60 out of 76 snaps, including a handful of snaps with Samaje Perine also on the field. If Ja’Marr Chase misses more time, expect Brown to remain involved in the pass game, just maybe not to the extent he was in this one.
Samaje Perine: 3 Carries, 7 Yards | 1 Target
Wide Receiver
Ja’Marr Chase: 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 27 Yards
Injured early in the game, Ja’Marr Chase left with what appeared to be a concussion. Managers will wait with baited breath to see if he passes protocol and is ready to play in Week 5.
Tee Higgins: 16 Targets, 11 Receptions, 157 Yards
Dohnte Meyers: 9 Targets, 7 Receptions, 82 Yards
In the absence of Chase, Tee Higgins showed his capability of taking over as an alpha wide receiver while Dohnte Meyers stepped up as a solid WR2 in the offense. Meyers led the way with 68 offensive snaps, but Higgins’ targets established him as the clear alpha in this offense with Chase sidelined. In spite of his success, Higgins left the game late in the fourth quarter with a leg injury, which may mean that the Bengals will have to lean even more heavily on the CFL transplant, Meyers, in Week 5. With the health of both Higgins and Chase up in the air, Meyers becomes a priority waiver claim for those in need of wide receiver production.
Mitchell Tinsley: 7 Targets, 3 Receptions, 49 Yards
Tight End
Mike Gesicki: 5 Targets, 3 Receptions, 40 Yards, TD
Tanner Hudson: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 2 Yards
One would think that with the Bengals’ top receiver sidelined and Burrow chucking the ball 54 times that the tight end group might get some more love in this one. Well, Mike Gesicki caught a TD, but the volume vacated by Chase went mostly to Higgins and Meyers (and Brown out of the backfield). There isn’t much to go on here, but if you wanted to take a speculative add on a Bengals tight end, Gesicki is the only viable fantasy pass catcher.