Saluki Football office celebrates news that PJ Jules made Cincinnati Bengals 53-man roster

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Shouts of celebration echoed through the Saluki Football office this morning when PJ Jules called head coach Nick Hill to let him know that the Cincinnati Bengals informed him he had made their final 53-man roster.

After signing with the Bengals as a free agent in 2024, Jules spent all of last season on the team’s practice squad, but was never activated.

“An emotional moment, for sure,” Hill beamed. “When you recruit a young kid who comes here with the dream of being in the NFL, to see the hard work and the commitment pay off, to see the dream come true, you’re just so proud of him and happy for him.”

The second-year pro is now on-track to become the 43rd player in Southern Illinois history to play in the National Football League and the first since Jeremy Chinn and Madre Harper made their NFL debuts in 2020. Chinn, who is with the Las Vegas Raiders, is entering his sixth season as a pro. Jules is expected to make his debut on Sept. 7 versus the Cleveland Browns.

“PJ is with an excellent organization and coaches who are teaching him the NFL game,” Hill said. “The NFL is so complex that you're not making the team unless you've proven that you can execute in a really complex scheme. PJ studies a ton of film, hours of old players on Youtube. He asks questions. He’s a great student of the game.”

At SIU, Jules was a consensus All-American and 1st-Team All-MVFC pick his senior year in 2023, finishing sixth in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award, which goes to the nation's top FCS defensive player.

During the most recent off-season, Bengals employees said Jules was the only player to work out every day, going so far as to drive through severe flooding around the stadium to get to work.

“PJ has an unbelievable work ethic, to the point where you had to tell him to stop working out,” Hill said. “You want to get everything out of your God-given ability, and God blessed PJ with an unbelievable skill set and he's maximizing it. Pound for pound, they say he's the strongest player on the team.”

The son of Haitian immigrants, Jules tragically lost his father when he was in seventh grade. At SIU, away from his family home in Orlando, Jules became like an adopted son to the Hill family.

“He's somebody that our family loves deeply,” Hill said. “He spent a lot of time over at our house, sharing holidays together with our family. It just couldn't happen to a better person.”