So far at Cincinnati Bengals training camp, most of the non-Ja’Marr Chase talk about wide receivers has centered on the Andrei Iosivas breakout and the exciting arrival of free agent Hakeem Butler.
But Charlie Jones is starting to make some noise, too.
Jones, the sophomore with the wicked punt return touchdown and untimely injury as a rookie, still remains in the conversation for the No. 3 wideout spot.
Just look at commentary from Bengals backup Jake Browning, courtesy of Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com: “I think (Jones), was pretty fast last year and now he’s getting a feel for the offense. You can get a lot of confidence going from year one to year two. He did a good job against Cover Two, getting the friendly angle. Being on the same page, knowing what the coverage is.”
Not only that, Hobson says that Jones has packed five to seven pounds of muscle onto his frame without losing speed.
Jones has played both the boundary and slot in camp and just Tuesday caught two touchdowns. So while his skillset figures to keep him as a major presence on special teams, there’s a lot of time left for him to prove he deserves more reps in the base offense, too.
