Tyler Eifert is up to jogging 20 minutes at a time now and he's convinced he'll be that guy again. The guy that caught 13 touchdowns at tight end for the Bengals in 2015.

"I'll be back to where I was. No question," said Eifert Tuesday, who admitted he didn't know where he would be doing it.

There are so many things on the mind, no one can blame him when the subject of head coach Marvin Lewis' departure comes up and he says, "It's beyond my thought process." Certainly the next head coach, especially if he's an offensive whiz, would be intrigued by Eifert. Eifert, the 6-6 red-zone TD machine that has played in just 12 of the 48 games since he tore ankle ligaments in the '15 Pro Bowl. Since then, his career has been a Mayhem commercial instead of a highlight reel.

Staring at a second straight free-agent year that starts in two months, Eifert isn't so sure where he fits after he signed what amounted to an incentive-laden $4.75 million deal for one year that ended up not being laden. Now if you're the Bengals, what do you do?

"Just have to see how it plays out. I don't know where I stand," he said. "I don't have any expectations right now. I don't know if I'm still wanted. Just have to figure that out."

Old coach? Young pup? Millennial? Hall-of-Famer? Who wouldn't want the guy? Remember, the day Eifert got carried off in Atlanta on the first series of the second half as his teammates huddled and prayed over him in the wake of a sickening turn of the other ankle that tore all the ligaments, the 3-1 Bengals offense was averaging 377 yards and 32 points per game.

They finished the season winning three more games averaging 311 and 23 points per game and the slide began before A.J. Green and Andy Dalton got hurt. The Bengals scored four touchdowns in the first two quarters in Atlanta with him. Without Eifert making defensive coordinators crazy in the middle of the field, they scored six TDs in the next 14 quarters of Green, Dalton, Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd. With three 1,000-yard performers coming back, the Bengals aren't everyone's last destination for a new head coach.

"I'd be up to staying here. Yeah. It would have to depend a little bit (on the new offensive coordinator)," Eifert said. "You have to weigh all the factors. (It was different when Lewis was here last year), you knew what you were getting. I would think they would want me back. I would say there is frustration with all my injuries. But I think it's pretty obvious how the offense runs when I'm in there. Pretty good."