While the Bengals were struggling to win games in 2025, wide receiver Andrei Iosivas was struggling to deal with a barrage of online invective.
Iosivas was credited with five dropped passes during the regular season and he said on Tuesday that they triggered a lot of vitriol on his social media accounts. Iosivas said that the messages made him “angry” and that he had a difficult time compartmentalizing those emotions.
“I feel like last year I was in my head a little bit,” Iosivas said, via Ben Baby of ESPN.com. “I had those drops in those games and people were telling me to kill myself and all that kind of stuff. I never had that kind of stuff happen to me before. So it got in my head a little bit when people — you know, when your DMs are flooded with people telling you to kill yourself.”
Iosivas finished the year with 33 catches for 435 yards and two touchdowns. He explained how he has shifted his mindset to prepare for his fourth season in Cincinnati.
“Just not letting outside noise get to me and letting circumstances get to me,” Iosivas said. “I know I’m a great player so [I’m] not letting people’s opinions or things in the building kind of just irritate me.”
Iosivas has been the team’s third wideout with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins the last two seasons. The only significant addition to the Bengals’ receiving corps was fourth-rounder Colbie Young, so Iosivas should get plenty of chances to put a difficult 2025 behind him.
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