Cincinnati’s Jermaine Gresham is emerging as a top performing tight end this season. That’s saying a lot considering the elite talent at the position league wide. Gresham is coming off a stellar performance in a 23-20 victory over Cleveland. The second-year tight end hauled in five catches for 68 yards and a touchdown. His steady improvement could be attributed to his fear of failure.

“I want be relevant,” Gresham said. “More than anything, I don’t want to be a bust. That’s been on my mind and I don’t want to disappoint anyone around here. I just want to do my part and help this team win. I’m going to make certain that I work harder than the next guy. I just don’t want to be a bust or disappointment.”

The Bengals selected Gresham with the 21st overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. In his first season with the club, he set a franchise record in receptions for a rookie tight end with 52. He’s the second leading receiver on the team this season with 37 receptions for 370 yards and five touchdowns. The word bust doesn’t appear to be in the player’s foreseeable future.

“I have a much better understanding of the game this season,” Gresham said. “I believe I’m a better overall player understanding what defenses are doing. I have to continue to work hard and put myself in position to make plays. I like to think I’m a little smarter in learning the game.”

Head coach Marvin Lewis said in his Monday news conference that he thought Gresham made a couple of nice, athletic plays being flanked out. Lewis gave the impression that the team would like to do more with talented the tight end in various formations. Gresham’s versatility as well athleticism presents a matchup problem for any defense.

Pittsburgh’s defense could have their hands full this week attempting to corral the Bengals’ 17th-ranked pass offense. If Cincinnati can effectively run a spread on offense and stretch the defense, it could mean curtains for the Steelers. The game plan for the Bengals is to score often on offense and bust’em in the mouth on defense.

“This week’s game is huge,” Gresham said. “The Steelers have a great team and it’s going to be very competitive. This is another must-win game. In order to move forward, we have to get better as a whole by putting up more numbers, yards and points. That’s our goal for this game.”

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