CINCINNATI -- During his weekly news conference, a reporter asked Texans offensive coordinator George Godsey if he ever became jealous looking at the production the Bengals get from their tight ends.

Godsey simply answered that he was spending his time on the Bengals' defense, not their offense. He'd never say it even if he felt it, but you could forgive him if he was jealous. The Texans and Bengals are at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of how they've used their tight ends so far this season.

Entering Week 10, the Bengals led the league in touchdowns thrown to tight ends with nine. All of those went to Tyler Eifert, who also led the league in touchdown receptions at any position heading into this week.

"I mean you look at a guy like that, that’s what you’re trying to do with that F position, no doubt about it," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. "We’re continuing to work. Our guys are working hard. We’re continuing to try to get them involved in the offense."

It's not that the Bengals throw the ball excessively to their tight end -- it's that when they do, they make it count. Andy Dalton has completed 70.9 percent of his passes and hasn't turned the ball over when targeting tight ends this season. The Texans should hope they've improved at defending the position, aided by quick screen passes, from their Week 1 loss to the Chiefs. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is one of two players who gained more than 100 receiving yards against the Texans this season. (The only wide receiver to have done that was Tampa Bay's Mike Evans.)

Texans tight end Ryan Griffin will play in his first game since the season opener on Monday against the Bengals. AP/Jonathan Bachman

The story is quite a bit different on the other side.

The Texans have only thrown 34 passes to tight ends, the fourth-fewest in the NFL. That's actually an improvement on last season, when they were last in tight-end targets.

They've been without Ryan Griffin since he suffered a torn MCL in that Week 1 game. But Griffin came off injured reserve with a designation to return on Sunday and will be available Monday. At the time of his injury, Griffin was first on the Texans depth chart. In his absence, C.J. Fiedorowicz has been starting.

"I think it’s always good to have all three of those guys available, because each one of them is a little bit different," Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer said. "It’s good to have him back out there and really give the other two guys a blow a little bit, too. When you only have two tight ends, that’s tough sledding for those guys. They’re expected to run routes, block, so to have all three of them back is really good."

Griffin practiced all week, but the long absence means he might take some time to get back into a rhythm.

"It allows for either multiple groupings, possibly use him to spare some of the other tight ends," Godsey said. "But also he’s got to catch up, too, to what we’ve been doing as far as on the field and the playing speed."