The Cincinnati Bengals have gotten off to a strong start to the 2026 NFL season, currently sitting at 2-0 after a recent road win over the Houston Texans. Making matters even more impressive for the Bengals is the fact that quarterback Joe Burrow hasn't played particularly well yet, and they're still racking up wins.
On Wednesday, the team got an unfortunate injury update on one of Burrow's weapons in the wide receiver room heading into Week 3.
“Bengals wide receiver Andrei Iosivas is expected to miss 4-6 weeks due to a thumb injury that requires surgery, per sources. Iosivas is having the surgery today and will likely go on short term IR,” reported NFL insider Jeremy Fowler of ESPN on X, formerly Twitter.
Iosivas is one of the complementary receivers for the Bengals next to stars Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and has recorded three catches so far this year. While losing the speedster for a few weeks might not necessarily be a crushing blow, it is still not ideal for a Bengals team that has seen many a season derailed by bad luck on the injury front over the years.
Still, Chase sure looked fully healthy on Sunday against the Texans' vaunted defense, hauling in two touchdowns, including an early-season Catch of the Year candidate, en route to the comfortable road win.
If Burrow can continue to find a rhythm and stay on the field, it would appear this could finally be the year that the Bengals re-enter the contender discussion in the AFC.