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          Bengals' Charlie Jones returns punt 81 yards for TD vs. Ravens

          • Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterSep 17, 2023, 05:59 PM
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              Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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          CINCINNATI -- Basically nothing had gone right for the Cincinnati Bengals this season until the second quarter of Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens.

          Bengals rookie wide receiver Charlie Jones returned a punt for an 81-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 and score Cincinnati's first touchdown of the season. It gave the home crowd at Paycor Stadium something to cheer about after fans had booed the offense earlier in the quarter.

          According to the team's media guide, it was the first Bengals punt return for a touchdown since Adam "Pacman" Jones took one back in 2012 against the Cleveland Browns. That was also an 81-yard return.

          Joe Burrow found Tee Higgins for a three-yard touchdown with 2:34 left in the third to cut Baltimore's lead to 20-17.

          The Bengals are looking to avoid an 0-2 start for the secondstraight season.