Mike Gesicki gives the young Bengals team an experienced voice

CINCINNATI (WKRC) – After playing his first five NFL seasons with the Miami Dolphins and most recently with the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick, one of the most successful head coaches of all time, tight end Mike Gesicki is one of the Bengals’ newest veterans.

Gesicki, 28, is coming off a down year with the Patriots in which he caught just 29 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns, but from 2019-21 with the Dolphins, he averaged 59 passes for 684 yards (11.6 yards per catch). The seven-year veteran is excited about his new role with a team contending for the Super Bowl… something he’s never experienced in his career.

“I’m trying to stay here for a while,” Gesicki said. “I’m trying to be the player I can be and be on a winning team, a winning organization, and that’s what this place has been the last few years.”

The mental toll on these players is high for many reasons, but for Gesicki in particular, this is his third team in as many seasons. He has experienced five different head coaches and seven different offensive coordinators in his NFL time and knows firsthand how daunting it can be to deal with change.

“I was lucky location-wise to be able to spend five years with one team, but there’s been a lot of turnover between head coaches and offensive coordinators throughout my career,” Gesicki said. “I think I’ve had 10 or 11 different quarterbacks. So I want it to work out here because I think I’m through the change and I’m ready to have just one spot, and I think that would be a good one.”

One of those coaches in the merry-go-round of Gesicki’s career was eight-time Super Bowl champion Belichick, who he said has many similarities with new head coach Zac Taylor.

“They’re both great coaches and have the respect of their players, no question,” Gesicki said. “There’s nobody in this locker room that has anything negative to say about (Taylor) or the way he runs this place. I mean, everyone says how player-friendly he is, and I personally think he does a good job of putting guys in positions where they can be successful.”