Published October 15, 2026 05:32 AM
Bengals safety Jordan Battle said before Sunday’s game that he had identified a tendency of Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis to pat the ball before throwing, and that he was going to use that tendency to time his breaks on Willis’s passes. At the time, it seemed like a foolish thing to say out loud, but Battle backed up his talk and intercepted Willis twice as the Bengals won.
Still, Willis doesn’t believe he has a tell.
Asked after the game about Battle’s comments, Willis indicated that he wasn’t even sure who Battle was, asking a reporter to clarify which Bengals player had said he had a tell.
“Who said that?” Willis asked.
A reporter answered, “Jordan Battle.”
Willis then asked, “What number?”
A reporter told Willis that Battle wears No. 27, and Willis said he didn’t even realize that Battle had caught both of his interceptions. Willis incorrectly thought No. 44, linebacker Demetrius Knight, had caught one of the interceptions.
“I thought 44 caught one. I thought 44 caught a pick. Either way, you said he caught both? Let’s come on,” Willis said.
Willis disputed that the interceptions had anything to do with a tell. On one of the picks, Willis’s hand was hit as he was throwing the ball, and on the other one, Willis felt pressure to his left, scrambled to his right and threw directly to Battle.
“That’s not a tell, he caught tipped balls. Good for him, that’s what defenses are supposed to do at this level,” Willis said. “They battled a ball down and the second one was a scramble drill mishap. That has nothing to do with tells. I don’t think I patted either one of those. I don’t think those are correlated.”
Willis said he had been told what Battle said but didn’t put any stock in it.
“I didn’t think much of it. Everybody pats the ball. That’s funny. Really funny,” Willis said.
It was the Bengals who had something to laugh about after the game, as Battle backed up his talk.