Joe Burrow in his first game back from his season-ending wrist injury: ? 5-7 ? 51 yards ? 1 TD ? 131.5 passer rating pic.x.com/gpxvqlvquu

Behold, the first dots of the NFL season. Logan Woodside to Jermaine Burton, 37 yards. pic.x.com/qevontid51

Jackson Carman with his fourth penalty of the first half. Three holdings, one false start.

Bengals DE Myles Murphy had really strong win rate numbers at the end of last season. Last year's first-round pick has been disruptive in tonight's preseason opener.

Bengals rookie CB Josh Newton with an INT off Kyle Trask. Shows why the coaching staff is *very* high on him.

Bengals rookie DE Cedric Johnson, a sixth-round pick, gets a sack that effectively forces a field goal attempt.

Bengals cornerback Nate Brooks, a proud North Texas alum, with a nice tackle in open space at the start of the third quarter. Other notable North Texas alums/former students include Norah Jones, Maren Morris and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Bengals RB Zack Moss got sick yesterday, which is why he wasn't available today.

Amarius Mims is the lone projected offensive starter on the field for the second Bengals drive.

Chase Brown gets the start at RB for the Bengals tonight.

Starting WRs for the Bengals tonight: Tee Higgins, Andrei Iosivas, Trenton Irwin. Iosivas gets the slot assignment.

Myles Murphy and Joseph Ossai get the starts at DE with Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson out. CB DJ Turner gets the start alongside Cam Taylor-Britt.

Bengals WR Charlie Jones is week-to-week after he banged knees in Thursday's practice, per Zac Taylor.

The Buccaneers returned to football on the right foot, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 17-14 in their preseason debut. Most of Tampa Bay’s starters did not play, but the Bucs were able to squeak by the Bengals with a handful of big plays on offense.

The game kicked off with Bengals starting quarterback Joe Burrow under center as he led Cincinnati’s offense to a touchdown on their opening drive. The Bucs nearly had the Bengals stalled just outside the redzone, but a pass interference call on cornerback Josh Hayes, though it appeared rookie safety Tykee Smith committed the penalty, pushed Cincinnati within striking distance. Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins juked Hayes on the following play on the 10-yard scoring reception

The Cincinnati Bengals host the Tampa Bay Bucaaners in the first week of the preseason on Saturday.

There, the Bengals are expected to play starters for at least one series, meaning the long-anticipated return of Joe Burrow at quarterback.

That won’t include every starter, with someone like Sam Hubbard nursing an injury and Ja’Marr Chase in the middle of his “hold-in” with the team. But this week might be the only week starters get run in any preseason game.

Otherwise, key position battles will take place down the entire depth chart as the team marches closer to forming a 53-man roster before Week 1.