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The Bengals, who are on a bye Week 4, would like to improve their red-zone touchdown rate and could get help in that area very shortly as receiver Marvin Jones is set to return from a foot injury in Week 5.
"I'm about five weeks post-op, so the progression is there and we're happy with where my status is right now," said Jones, who had surgery Aug. 11 after breaking the fifth metatarsal in his left foot.
"Obviously that's one area where, through all our great self-scout that we do this week and through the bye week, it's what we've got to get better at," wide receivers coach James Urban said about the lack of red-zone scoring, per ESPN. "We have to score touchdowns. We can't just keep settling for field goals. At some point quickly that becomes critical, and obviously the natural inclination with Marv scoring 10 touchdowns last year is that hopefully that helps."
Jones was targeted 14 times in the red zone last season. He had 12 red-zone catches and nine red-zone touchdowns in 2013.
Even though Jones, a third-year player from Cal who had 51 catches for 712 yards and 10 touchdowns last year, is still listed as the starter, look for the Bengals to ease him back into action for a few games after he's cleared.
Jones missed the first two weeks of training camp with an ankle injury he suffered in the offseason. He broke his foot in his first practice back. It's going to take some time for him to get into football shape.
"It takes a couple of practices," Jones said. "That first practice is always, 'Oh, my gosh.' It doesn't matter how much conditioning you do on the side, nothing can replicate you actually going in there and consistently running routes. That's always a big part of it.
"You have to get in there and practice at first and see how that goes," he added. "But knowing me, I can get ready pretty fast. We'll see."
The Bengals can afford to be as patient as needed with Jones because of the play of Mohamed Sanu, who has 12 catches for 164 yards and a touchdown in addition to his two throwing plays where he has gone 2-for-2 for 68 yards and a touchdown.
Asked if he can throw the ball, too, Jones laughed.
"Yes, but I'd rather be on the receiving end of it," he said. "I'll let the professionals handle the throws, because Mo is a professional quarterback as well. Every time we practice, it's not on Mo, it's up to the guy to catch it. He puts it in the right spot. I've never seen him throw a bad pass, so don't mess up Mo's perfect passer rating."
Jones has 11 carries for 112 yards (10.2 average) in his career, so you can bet Jackson is already drawing up some new gadget plays to get him involved in different ways