Bengals Beat: How Secret Weapon Andrei Iosivas Is Earning Trust With Joe Burrow, Bengals Coaches

CINCINNATI — When the Bengals drafted heptathlete and Princeton receiver Andrew Iosivas in the sixth round of this past year’s draft, no one knew just how much he might impact the offense in his rookie season.

After all, there were three star receivers on the depth chart in Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. Trenton Irwin is the clear No. 4 receiver for his reliability. And the team drafted a receiver/returner in Charlie Jones out of Purdue in the fourth round.

All of this makes what Iosivas has been able to accomplish since training camp all the more impressive. He showed Darrin Simmons he could handle his role on special teams coverage with his blazing speed. Then he showed in the preseason he could run the right routes for backup quarterbacks Jake Browning and Trevor Siemian.

The final exam would come once Joe Burrow returned. In limited reps over the first four games, Iosivas had one, two, eight and ten offensive snaps, respectively. Then came the game in Tennessee with Higgins and Jones were out. He became the fourth receiver behind Chase, Boyd and Irwin.

The key to Iosivas growing into a weapon is paying attention in an extraordinarily talent receiver room. This is another quality the Bengals scouted when they followed him at Princeton.

“It’s just understanding that (the offense) relies on guys to make plays to move the chains and they’re never scared of the moment,” Iosivas said of Chase, Higgins, Boyd and Irwin. “That’s the biggest thing. Just seeing how they handle big moments is something I’ve learned a lot from.”

On Oct. 15 at Paycor, Iosivas celebrated his 24th birthday by keeping a play alive in the first quarter. As Burrow was doing his best Michael Jackson moonwalk at the 10-yard line, Iosivas made sure to stay in his vision and Burrow fired a seed to the rookie for his first touchdown.

“Understanding the game plan and then when stuff doesn’t go as planned just thinking on the move seeing the open spot and manipulating your man so you can get open,” Iosivas told me.

Then came last week in northern California. As Burrow was scrambling to his right in the low red zone, the quarterback spotted Iosivas shedding corner Charvarious Ward in the end zone and Burrow trusted him enough to find space that he dotted another pass to him, this time for two yards and a touchdown.

That’s two touchdowns in three catches this season for a grand total of 14 yards. After going without a target in his first four games, Iosivas has three catches on four targets in the last three games. That’s one way to earn the trust of a quarterback.

“He has earned that,” Burrow said. “He’s a guy we have a lot of faith in. He always knows what he’s doing. It seems like he’s going To do the right thing wherever he’s at on the field and make contested catches and make big plays for us.”

What other ways can Iosivas earn Burrow’s trust in limited opportunities?

“That’s tough to say. It comes with reps in practice and games reps,” Burrow said. “I would say it just depends on the opportunities that you get and our guys have the most made out of them. When you have guys that work really hard to get better and you have guys that own their role on the team, that’s the quickest way to do it.”

An impressive post-script to that touchdown came on his next snap on special teams. He raced down on kick coverage and made the tackle on Ray-Ray McCloud at the Niners 14.

“He’s physical, strong guy, he’s a fast guy,” head coach Zac Taylor said. “His scramble drill, he has a great feel for it. You can’t coach that kind of stuff. He’s a guy who has worked really hard for his opportunities, and he has made the most of them when he has gotten them. He’ll keep doing that. That’s the guy he is, it seems like.”

Moving up the ladder on an NFL depth chart is merit-based. Do everything you can with the reps you get on special teams and on your side of the ball and you’ll get more opportunity. Clearly, the moment has not been too big for the rook they call Yoshi.

“I think he’s confident when he goes into the game that he’s going to be able to make a play if it comes his way,” Taylor said, pointing to the work of assistant coaches Troy Walters and Brad Kragthorpe. “Troy and Brad have done a great job working with him. He hasn’t had the opportunity yet for the consistency part, but that’s the big thing. That’s where Trenton has gotten a lot of opportunities. You’ve got so much trust. Trenton Irwin knows every position and he’s going to make the plays that come his way.

“For these younger guys like Andrei to continue to prove that. He hasn’t really had the opportunity yet to play as many snaps in a game to show us at the different positions. We’re fortunate because we have good depth to where we haven’t had to force that on guys. You continue to find a role for him. He’s scored touchdowns the last two games. That’s good. That gets everybody fired up about you and you’re making the opportunities that come your way and they’ll be more to come as the season goes, whether he’s the featured player in a play or not. He’ll continue to have more opportunities and continue to be consistent.”

Finding an identity:

You wouldn’t think a team that’s been to the AFC championship the last two seasons and came within a whisker of a Super Bowl title would be in search of an identity. But as every football coach will attest, every season and every team is different. Teams need to go out and find out for themselves if they trust each other in critical situations. The last three games, two road wins and two red zone stops late against Seattle, have certainly given the Bengals the kind of momentum that defines a team’s identity.

“We’re starting to become us again,” Tyler Boyd said of Sunday night’s game against the Bills. “Our identity is starting to arrive. This is a big game because it’s two championship-contending teams.”

Thursday practice report:

Thursday’s full pads practice featured the return of Trey Hendrickson after he missed Wednesday with a foot injury. Hendrickson was limited in practice but the fact he returned in full pads and went through all the drills prior to team periods is a good sign for his availability. Also limited was Orlando Brown Jr., not a surprise as the team manages the left tackle groin issue to make sure he’s ready to go. Joe Mixon (chest) was back to full participation on Thursday after being limited Wednesday. Josh Tupou and Tycen Anderson missed practice Thursday with a Anderson’s knee injury possibly leading to an IR designation in the near future. For the second straight day, Joe Burrow worked out for a portion of practice with a glove on his right hand in the event of cold, dry weather Sunday night and the rest of the season. He practiced taking snaps and throwing the ball with the glove on.