Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates entered the 2021 season with expectations unlike any player on the roster. Bates, in the final year of his rookie contract, was hoping to have an extension in place with his team before Week 1. The Bengals and Bates have yet to get a deal done and the former second-round pick was pretty frank about how it made him feel.
"I was hoping to be the next guy up," Bates said in September. "But like I said, it is what it is."
When the Bengals gave defensive end Sam Hubbard a four-year extension worth $40 million in July, Bates thought he would be next in line. And based off his portfolio of work during his time in Cincinnati, it seemed like a no-brainer that he would be next. He finished the 2020 season with 109 tackles, three interceptions and 15 passes defensed.
Bates vowed to use the fact he and his team were unable to reach an agreement on an extension as motivation for the upcoming season.
Jessie Bates contract status:Safety who hoped to have long-term deal with Bengals is betting on himself
"I think I'm going to continue to show it with my play and be a little pissed off, for sure," Bates said.
Outside of the Bengals first game of the season against the Minnesota Vikings where he led the team in tackles, Bates hasn't consistently made the impact plays he's made in years past. The former second-round pick has 55 tackles and one interception. On Monday following the Bengals' bye week, Bates provided an honest assessment of his play thus far.
"I haven’t played as well as I wanted to," Bates said. "I’m just happy that we’re in a situation to win ball games honestly. This is the best situation we’ve been in going into a bye weekend so it’s not more about the personal level. Obviously, like I said I have to play better for us to win games and I know that. I haven’t played up to that level, but I think I can. I feel like my mind was ... Honestly, it was on other things throughout the first part of the season."
Bengals entering tough part of schedule
The Bengals are about to hit the toughest part of their schedule with eight games to play. In order to reach the playoffs, the Bengals need Bates to play better. Through the first seven games of the year, Cincinnati's defense was playing as a top-10 unit week in and out. In the most recent losses to the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns, the Bengals haven't looked like the same group on defense giving up 34 and 41 points.
With games against the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers and the Las Vegas Raiders remaining on the schedule, Bates will need to lead a resurgent effort for the Bengals' pass defense against these teams with premiere wide receivers. Cincinnati ranks No. 24 against the pass giving up 260.3 yards per game in the air.
Bates said he used the bye week to get out of town and reconnect with his former coaches and friends at his alma mater Wake Forest. Those conversations helped Bates reshape his focus for the rest of the season. In his first season as a team captain, Bates realizes his play is important but the way he leads, especially with what's in front of the Bengals, is almost most important.
With eight games to play, the Bengals have a chance to take control of the AFC North and make a playoff push. Bates wants to be right at the front of making that happen before he worries about anything else.
"I feel like I'm at a better head space now than I was at the beginning of the season," Bates said. "So caught on to proving the wrong people right and the main thing I should be focusing on is proving the right people right as far as my coaches, my teammates, my family and not worry about all of the other stuff. I know that's gonna work out, I know what type of player I am, that stuff's gonna work out regardless, but like I said I gotta be better for this team so I’m excited for it."
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