Tight end C.J. Uzomah's sprained MCL must be well enough for him to play Sunday because he wasn't among the inactives for Super Bowl LVI.
Uzomah, who left on the second series of the AFC championship two weeks ago, didn't go full until Friday and he was listed as questionable. Even if not 100 percent, he gives them an emotional lift as one of the team leaders, not to mention what has been a juicy target for quarterback Joe Burrow in the two previous games in the maze of Ja'Marr Chase-Tee Higgins coverages when he caught 13 balls for 135 yards and a touchdown.
Uzomah looked pretty smooth in warmups and the Bengals were one up on the Rams. Their tight end, Tyler Higbee, was inactive after he hurt his knee in the NFC championship.
Also healthy is one of the Bengals best special teamers, wide receiver Stanley Morgan, Jr., after he missed the three previous games with a hamstring issue.
FOR THE RECORD: A slew of Bengals career postseason records could go down in Sunday's Super Bowl LVI against the Rams even though the bulk of today's Bengals are playing in only their fourth playoff game.
Among them:
- With 20 receptions, Chase is nine catches shy of setting the record for catches, set by tight end Dan Ross in four playoff games.
- With 279 yards, Chase is 76 yards shy of breaking wide receiver Cris Collinsworth's record of 354, also set in four playoff games.
- With 13 points, rookie kicker Evan McPherson can break the record of 52 set by kicker Jim Breech in nine playoff games.
- With one touchdown pass for his fifth of the postseason, quarterback Joe Burrow can move into second place past Boomer Esiason (five games) and behind Ken Anderson's nine in six games.
- With 14 completions, Burrow moves past Andy Dalton's 88 into second place behind Anderson's 110. With 109 attempts, Burrow is in third place, nine more than Esiason.
ENCOURAGING WORDS: Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi, who suffered a season-ending foot injury in the Wild Card, put his crutch on the sideline during pregame warmups at SoFi and made sure he pulled each D-lineman close in a hug so could talk into their ears and be heard above the pregame buzz.
"I just told them you don't realize how much you miss the opportunity until you don't have it," Ogunjobi said.
Message sent.
INACTIVES: After elevating veteran defensive tackle Mike Daniels from the practice squad Saturday, they chose to deactivate him Sunday and go with the two veteran tackles (Zach Kerr and Damion Square) they picked up after Daniels injured his groin warming up for the Wild Card. They also made rookie defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin inactive after he played in the last two games.
Also inactive were tackle Fred Johnson, wide receiver Trenton Irwin, cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, running back Trayveon Williams and edge Wyatt Ray.
