Cobi Hamilton sounds like he knows he's made the Bengals roster

The Bengals were confident Cobi Hamilton's talent would eventually reveal itself. It certainly did with his breakout performance Thursday vs. the Colts, highlighted by his 50-yard touchdown to ice the game in the fourth quarter.

"It was a good play, Lewis said. "You know, Cobi has had some good plays this preseason and he’s had some that weren’t quite good enough. He’s had a lot of opportunity to play, so that’s good."

In the fourth quarter, Hamilton also made a solo tackle on Ryan Lankford on kickoff coverage.

To this point, Hamilton had shown no interest in making an impact on the coverage unit, and in general, his special teams impact was nonexistent. Cincinnati has been giving him occasional looks as a returner, but he just doesn't offer anything there.

If he does make the 53-man roster, he'll do so as a sixth or seventh receiver. That means doing something as seemingly little as making an occasional tackle on special teams or as important as a big pass play. Darrin Simmons and the Bengals pride themselves on great specials teams play, and they're willing to lose talented players if they won't contribute on that unit.

The good thing is Hamilton sounds like a guy who knows he needs to get better and is willing to put in the work.

"I always feel that I can do better, Hamilton said. "Blocking — small things — details in the game. I need to do better. I did alright, but you always want to have a perfect game."

Hamilton also sounds like a guy who 'knows' he's going to be on the final roster.

"We had a pretty good preseason as a unit. We’ll come back to work Monday and get ready for Baltimore. I’m excited."