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The Cincinnati Bengals are keeping their options open if they need to add another tight end.
On Monday, the team added former Pitt Panther Scott Orndoff to the practice squad. However, the team also worked out several veterans in the event they want to add another tight end to the 53-man roster.
There’s a decent chance they’ll need to at some point, being that Tyler Eifert is already on injured reserve, not to mention Ryan Hewitt is out for multiple weeks with a knee injury.
While Tyler Kroft and C.J. Uzomah have shown flashes of being productive tight ends, they’ve both also been injury-prone over the last year, especially Uzomah, who has missed eight of his last 14 possible games due to injury dating back to last season.
In the event Kroft or Uzomah get hurt, the Bengals would be wise to add a veteran tight end, which is why they worked out several such players on Monday, according to ESPN’s Adam Caplan:
#Bengals, with Tyler Eifert on IR, worked out TEs Jace Amaro, Gavin Escobar, John Phillips, and Larry Donnell today.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) October 16, 2017
Jace Amaro, who originally joined the Jets in 2014, has caught just 41 passes in his NFL career thus far. Injuries derailed what looked like a promising career after his 38-catch rookie season. He most recently played for the Titans in the 2016 season.
Larry Donnell is the most accomplished of the group, having caught 110 career passes in four seasons with the Giants. He’s also just 28 and could probably be a serviceable second or third tight end.
Gavin Escobar also has plenty of NFL action under his belt, having appeared in 62 career games in four seasons with the Cowboys. He was drafted to be the heir apparent to Jason Witten, who continues to beat father time at the age of 35, while Escobar failed to ever show he’s a capable NFL tight end.
John Phillips is the most well-traveled of the bunch, having played for four different NFL teams since joining the league with the Cowboys in 2009. He has just 55 career catches for 390 yards and five scores.
For now, none of these players will be signed, but one of them could be down the road in the event of more injuries.