The Cincinnati Bengals will wrap up the preseason Friday night on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles as they look to finish 3-0.
There may be only one or two spots left to win on the 53-man roster, but the key number for most of the players who will see action tonight will be 69, with the 16-man practice squad offering an opportunity to stick around and continue to develop with the coaches and scheme they’ve been working with since the spring.
Here are three things to keep an eye on when the Bengals take on the Eagles:
Ke’Shawn Williams
The chain reaction from Ja’Marr Chase’s injury scare had Dohnte Moore moving up to take first-team reps and Williams being a frequent – and successful – target no matter what combination of receivers were in with the 2.
Williams flashed his abilities as a returner in the final three games of 2025 after Charlie Jones got hurt, and he’s been the most productive returner in the limited reps of the preseason.
Despite Jones having a return touchdown in each of the last three seasons, you can argue Williams is the best returner option on the team, and he could cement a spot on the 53 Friday night.
“I feel like every time I got a chance to make a play thus far, I’ve made it,” Williams said. “I just want to put an exclamation point on my work. Training camp is not gonna be full of plenty of opportunities, but those preseason games are where you do get those opportunities, and it’s about what do you do when your name is called.”
Brian Parker II
After playing all 62 snaps in last week’s win against the Bears, Parker is expected to do the same against the Eagles.
If he does, he will do something no Bengals player has done in the last 12 years.
The record for most preseason snaps played in a preseason since at least 2015 is 177 by offensive lineman Dan France in 2015, when teams played four preseason games.
Parker has played 119, which is tied for eighth most in the league, and six of the seven players with more already have played three games. Only Ravens tackle Gerad Lichtenhan has more (130) among players who have played just twice.
After playing tackle at Duke, the Cincinnati native (St. Xavier High School) has played 92 snaps at left guard, 14 at center and 13 at right guard.
“It’s been huge for me, especially moving from tackle to inside,” Parker said. “The first two games we got pretty good work at left (guard), and we were happy with what we saw there. Now in this upcoming game we’ll be working more right.
“It’s been great. I get to play more football,” he added. “It’s a great time to work on your technique, figure out what works and what doesn’t.”
Swayze Bozeman
He’s had a solid camp and has played well in the games, putting him in position to snatch one of the linebacker spots on the 53-man roster.
Demetrius Knight Jr., Barrett Carter and Oren Burks are locks. From 2006-present, the Bengals have never kept fewer than five linebackers on their initial 53-man roster. Could that change this year?
Joe Giles-Harris, who left last week’s game after being evaluated for a concussion, and Shaka Heyward are special teams players and defensive insurance.
Giles-Harris played 32 defensive snaps last year. Heyward played 36.
Bozeman played 35 for the Giants. But he has looked like the better linebacker of the three in camp, and he has extensive special teams reps, including 74 percent of the snaps after joining the Chiefs in 2024 on the way to a Super Bowl appearance.
Landon Robinson
His two sacks are tied for the second most in the preseason, trailing only the Eagles’ Ty Robinson’s three.
Since 2015, only four Bengals players have had more than two sacks in the preseason – Jordan Willis (4, 2017; 2.5, 2018), Carl Lawson (3.5, 2018), Chris Carter (3.5, 2015), Darius Hodge (2.5, 2021).
The top three on the list all did it in seasons with four games.
Willis is the only Cincinnati player during that span who had or shared the preseason lead, matching the New Orleans Saints’ Al-Quadin Muhammad in 2017.
Perfection pitfall
No team has won the Super Bowl after posting a perfect record in the preseason since the 2013 Seattle Seahawks.
Only two other teams have done it since 2000 – the 2000 Baltimore Ravens and 2003 New England Patriots.
Since 2015, 42 teams have had perfect preseasons. Only 14 (33 percent) made the playoffs.
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