Bubble Bengals Wait; Jordan’s Battle; Jaxsonian Era On O-Line?

Ole Miss rookie edge Cedric Johnson, a sixth-rounder, had another impressive night. If the special teams’ snap counts are an indicator (14), he would make the roster. He probably will, anyway, because two other edgers are hurt: Cam Sample (Achilles) is out for the year and Myles Murphy is (knee) week-to-week.

Plus, Johnson is usually relentless on the pass rush. He took 38 snaps from scrimmage and had a fourth-down hurry on the goal-line stand late in the first half. On the same drive he had a sack taken away by the Bengals’ only penalty of the night, Daijahn Antony’s illegal contact.

“I was a little upset. I was a little bit more upset when I found it was my old teammate,” said Johnson with a smile referencing his Ole Miss teammate. “It was still a good product on the field, so I’m not too mad at him.”

Johnson thinks he’s shown enough to make it.

“I played a lot of teams. I like that,” Johnson said. “I think I’ve shown I can give value on special teams and the rush position and versatility.”

Another guy who couldn’t have done any more this camp in his bid to make the 53 is offensive lineman Jaxson Kirkland, and that’s probably why he’ll make it. He didn’t last year when he was an undrafted rookie out of Washington, but they liked him enough to keep him on the practice squad until he needed surgery, and their development has paid off.

Kirkland not only threw around his physicality and mean streak at both guard spots, but he moved out to both tackles at a moment’s notice in the last two games and held up well both times.

The first time came last week when offensive line coach Frank Pollack had him take a couple of snaps at left tackle heading into last week’s joint practice in Chicago. He played left guard during that practice, but was next to left tackle D’Ante Smith when he went down with a season-ending knee injury.

The…