The best story out of Saturday night in the Queen City was Erick All Jr. making his 2026 debut as the Cincinnati Bengals took on the Chicago Bears.

All missed the final part of his 2024 rookie season after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee. After that, complications arose from a previous injury All sustained in college, leading to a second surgery on the knee the following offseason, forcing him to miss the entire 2025 season.

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The Bengals have been limiting him throughout camp, hoping to ramp him up to be fully healthy when the regular season starts on September 13th. All sat out during the first preseason game as part of that process.

Thankfully, he dressed out and went through stretches with the team prior to the game.

Despite logging several snaps, All did not see a target, but that’s not important. Not on this night. The real story was he was back in an NFL game for the first time in nearly a year and a half.

All is a versatile player at the tight end position when he is healthy. He can line up all over the formation; he loves the physicality as a blocker, and he can make plays in the passing game. It is a welcome sight to see him out on the football field.

And unless there’s some sort of setback, All is expected to make the 53-man roster and hopefully get back to the player we saw before his rookie season ended.