Sources: Bengals' Iosivas expected to miss 4-6 weeks due to thumb injury

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  Ben BabySep 23, 2026, 01:42 PM ET

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  Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Andrei Iosivas is expected to miss four to six weeks because of a thumb injury, sources told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

Iosivas will be placed on injured reserve after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair the injury, which he suffered in Cincinnati's Week 2 victory against the Houston Texans.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Iosivas will be eligible to return at some point this season. With the IR designation, he will miss a minimum of four weeks.

Iosivas had been Cincinnati's third starting wide receiver. Through the first two games of the season, he had three catches on four targets for 19 yards.

Taylor said the Bengals (2-0) will have varied options to replace Iosivas until he returns.

"(We have) several guys that can step up, whether it's in the receiver room, tight end room, there's a lot of ways we're going to fill that," Taylor said Wednesday.

It's unclear when Iosivas suffered the injury. The fourth-year receiver had one catch for seven yards the 20-6 victory against the Texans. His final play was in punt coverage with 2:16 left in the game.

Cincinnati will have one available roster spot on the 53-player active roster. Taylor didn't specify how the Bengals will use that slot. Cincinnati has six wide receivers on the roster, including Ke'Shawn Williams, who has been inactive on gamedays for the first two weeks of the season.

The Bengals play the rival Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) on Sunday and are looking to go 3-0 for the first time since 2015.