Tinsley enjoyed his breakout performance last week in the win at Washington when he made two impressive touchdown catches on passes from Jake Browning that looked like elite wide receiver plays.
“It would mean a lot, because I believe that I can help this team win however they need me,” Tinsley said. “But I feel like when it comes to my time, and I feel like I have to fill in or whatever, I feel like I’m capable and I have the skills to make plays out there.”
Tinsley is trying to make a 53-man roster for the second time in three years after coming out of Penn State as an undrafted free agent and earning a spot on Washington’s roster as a rookie in 2023. He didn’t play much that season and was waived last August, but signed to the Commanders’ practice squad and has been trying to work his way back onto a roster since then.
The opportunity now comes from signing a futures contract with the Bengals in February.
With Cincinnati, he has been trying to earn a role in one of the league’s best wide receiver corps, but Tinsley isn’t viewing the opportunity as one where he needs to prove himself.
“I think the main focus is not focusing on the mountain at the time,” said Tinsley, who began his college career at Hutchinson Community College and then Western Kentucky before finishing up at Penn State in 2022. “It’s focusing on one day at a time, being present, whether I’m in meetings or we’re in pre-game stretch, or whatever, like it’s about coming out here, being in the moment, and trusting my skills. So, I feel like, for me, it’s not about speaking about big picture. It’s more about just me, and that’s doing what I know is possible and winning a job.”
One thing Tinsley did this offseason to help with that was reading books on preparation and sports psychology to improve the mental side of his game and then applying those fundamentals into his daily routine.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
That was an idea he picked up from listening to podcasts and seeing what some of his old teammates have been doing to take their game to the next level. It’s helped him stay focused on the little things he needs to improve, rather than the big picture.
“Just really helping me stay present, you know, not thinking about my end goal, not thinking about the plays I want to make out there on the field, not thinking about what other people think of me,” Tinsley said. “It is just about executing at a high level, what I’ve done in the dark when nobody was watching.”
“It was about, you know, following through with it this offseason, taking the time to really work on myself, because I feel like every year in the league, I’ve gotten better as a player. I was on the roster my rookie year, I didn’t play much. Last year, I was on the P-squad, and I decided it was more so about getting stronger, getting faster, but also preparing my mental as well.”
Tinsley said he saw Cincinnati as a good opportunity to learn from two of the best receivers in the league in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and knowing the talent in the room that he would be competing with didn’t deter him.
A chance to play with Chase and Higgins was a bonus to the opportunity he saw for himself.
“I knew who was here, and I knew the guys that they had, but I believe in myself,” he said.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor wasn’t ready to make any roster announcements when asked about Tinsley on Wednesday. He said he was just looking at consistency “all the way through the bell,” and Tinsley had a “tremendous camp.”
“Really impressed,” Taylor said. “You got to see live and in color on Monday night. Happy for guys who just continue to do things the right way and create the opportunities for themselves and those plays happen. Mitch is a guy, on the big stage, where that occurred. But there are a lot of guys that don’t always get to touch the ball that, I think, have continued to progress that way, too.”
Tinsley has at least earned the trust of quarterback Joe Burrow, which is not easy to do. Burrow went as far as to say he hopes Tinsley makes the team in an in-game interview on ESPN on Monday.
Then, in his postgame interview he made similar comments. Tinsley said that just gives him more confidence moving forward.
“It means a lot,” Tinsley said. “He’s the leader of our team, the best quarterback in the league, and I feel like, for me, it makes me feel good knowing that he has belief and trust in me. So, for me, it’s about continuing to earn that trust and, you know, show that I can keep doing it and helping the team.”
Tinsley was making plays throughout camp, and he said he feels like he has grown as he got more reps with Burrow, continued running good routes, getting open and catching the ball to make big plays.
That spilled into games, and trust built with Burrow from there. Now Tinsley just hopes his shining moments on Monday Night Football aren’t his peak.
“I got bigger goals, and you know, I don’t want to look at Monday as like my Super Bowl,” Tinsley said. “For me, I got a lot of things that I really want to accomplish in my career, as far as what I got next for myself. So, you know, not to downplay Monday or anything like that. But for me, no, I know I’ve got to move on from that and focus on what’s next. … It’s about showing that I’m proving that I can do this week in, week out.”
About the Author