The\u00a0Cincinnati Bengals\u00a0are back to 53 players on the active roster this week thanks to the addition of wide receiver Ke\u2019Shawn Williams.<\/p>\n
Williams was claimed off waivers by the Bengals a day after he was waived by the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n
\n
The last two players Cincinnati has brought in to the locker room have been receivers.\u00a0Xavier Johnson\u00a0was signed to the practice squad last week following the release of\u00a0Jermaine Burton, and Williams now becomes the new sixth wideout on the active roster.<\/p>\n
And he may be called on to play a specific role as soon as this week.<\/p>\n
Ke\u2019Shawn Williams may fill in as kickoff returner for Charlie Jones<\/h2>\n
One of the many Bengals who suffered an injury during\u00a0Cincinnati\u2019s loss to the Baltimore Ravens\u00a0in Week 15 was Charlie Jones. The third-year receiver suffered an ankle injury during the first half of the game and he never returned.<\/p>\n
Jones has handled kickoff return duties for Cincinnati this year, taking 42 of the team\u2019s 72 total returns. He only returned one kickoff Sunday for 20 yards before his injury exit. Rookie running back Tahj Brooks handled four on his own, but only averaged 22.5 yards per return. Jones has averaged 25.8 yards per return this season.<\/p>\n
Should Jones\u2019 injury keep him out for this week\u2019s game against the\u00a0Miami Dolphins\u00a0and potentially either of the final two weeks of the season, the Bengals can now turn to Williams, who has some experience in this role.<\/p>\n
Williams, who originally signed with Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent, returned 18 kickoffs for the Steelers in eight games. He averaged 23.6 yards per return and his longest return went for 37 yards.<\/p>\n
The Bengal with the next-most return attempts this season is running back Samaje Perine with 17, but Perine is also needed on offense as the No. 2 tailback behind Chase Brown and played 45% of the offense\u2019s snaps last week against Baltimore.<\/p>\n
Williams only needs to fill the role of a kickoff returner, as Jones has only taken 20 snaps on offense this season. If Jones cannot play this weekend, Williams will have an opportunity to contribute immediately to his new team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The\u00a0Cincinnati Bengals\u00a0are back to 53 players on the active roster this week thanks to the addition of wide receiver Ke\u2019Shawn Williams. Williams was claimed off waivers by… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cincinnati-bengals"],"yoast_head":"\n
Bengals claim rookie off waivers who may be needed immediately thanks to recent injury - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bengals claim rookie off waivers who may be needed immediately thanks to recent injury - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The\u00a0Cincinnati Bengals\u00a0are back to 53 players on the active roster this week thanks to the addition of wide receiver Ke\u2019Shawn Williams. Williams was claimed off waivers by...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-16T23:25:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cincin-32.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896\",\"name\":\"Bengals claim rookie off waivers who may be needed immediately thanks to recent injury - Breaking News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cincin-32.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-16T23:25:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-16T23:25:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cincin-32.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cincin-32.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bengals claim rookie off waivers who may be needed immediately thanks to recent injury\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"description\":\"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\",\"name\":\"MrKen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrKen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bengals claim rookie off waivers who may be needed immediately thanks to recent injury - Breaking News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bengals claim rookie off waivers who may be needed immediately thanks to recent injury - Breaking News","og_description":"The\u00a0Cincinnati Bengals\u00a0are back to 53 players on the active roster this week thanks to the addition of wide receiver Ke\u2019Shawn Williams. Williams was claimed off waivers by...","og_url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896","og_site_name":"Breaking News","article_published_time":"2025-12-16T23:25:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cincin-32.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"MrKen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrKen","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896","name":"Bengals claim rookie off waivers who may be needed immediately thanks to recent injury - Breaking News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cincin-32.png","datePublished":"2025-12-16T23:25:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-16T23:25:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cincin-32.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cincin-32.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=39896#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bengals claim rookie off waivers who may be needed immediately thanks to recent injury"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/","name":"Breaking News","description":"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15","name":"MrKen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrKen"},"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39898,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39896\/revisions\/39898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/atozsports.com\/.image\/w_1080,q_auto:good,c_limit\/Mzk6MDAwMDAwMDAwMzUxODM5\/nfl-pittsburgh-steelers-at-jacksonville-jaguars-351839.jpg?arena_f_auto\")
<\/p>\n