The Bengals concluded their final open training camp session leading up to their preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. Mike Gesicki was out after tweaking his hamstring on Saturday. Cam Taylor-Britt, Daxton Hill, Marco Wilson, and Matt Lee were all on the rehab field. After missing a bit of time, Amarius Mims was back at practice. He had some sort of brace on his hand, but wouldn’t really discuss it. It was noted, however, that it is something he’ll have to fight through.
Trey Hendrickson was there. But again, he was in street clothes, as his hold-in continues. At one point, he was seen talking through some technique with Ossai.
The team drills started off well for the defence. Kris Jenkins was able to get to the QB for a sack, after successfully executing a stunt with Joseph Ossai. He has flashed a few times in camp, and this play helped the defence get off the field.
The defensive line continued to put pressure on Burrow, on one play, making him scramble and take off on a run. But after getting that initial stop, Burrow’s unit found the end zone on the next three drives. He hit Tanner Hudson on one of them, on a nice pass up the seam from about 15 yards out. Hudson has really taken advantage of the additional reps with Gesicki out and Fant still getting up to speed.
Next, Burrow found Tee Higgins for the TD in a matchup against DJ Ivey. The coverage was actually pretty solid, but Higgins did well to high point the ball. Ivey battled for it all the way down, but Higgins was able to fight him off and hold on to the ball. Later on, Burrow found Chase in the end zone. On this play, the coverage was also good, this time from Josh Newton. Burrow’s ball placement has been exceptional, and made it tough for the CB’s on both plays.
Higgins and Chase got a lot of the hype, but they weren’t the only ones making plays. Isaiah Williams continued his strong camp on Sunday. He made a couple of tough catches, including one for a TD where he had to high point the ball. Impressively, that play started off with him chipping Shemar Stewart at the line.
Getting back to the defensive side, there were some impressive plays, despite Burrow’s success on the day. Jordan Battle has had a strong camp, and he made a couple more plays, including one where he ripped it away from Tee Higgins along the sideline. There seemed to be some debate between the two sides as to whether he dislodged it in time. It was close, but I think he got it. DJ Turner also forced an incompletion on Higgins, but was called for holding. The defence, unsurprisingly, disagreed with the call.
Ivey was the one who got beat by Higgins for one of the TD’s, despite good coverage. But on another play, his good coverage on Chase did lead to an incompletion. With Taylor-Britt, Hill, and Wilson all out, Ivey got quite a bit of work against the top guys. This seems to be having some positive effects.
The defensive line has caused issues for the iOL, but the LB’s have quietly been solid. Oren Burks has looked good so far, and Demetrius Knight made a nice play to identify the running lane and stuff the ball carrier at the line.
With the first 9 training camp sessions concluded, the Bengals will not turn their focus to preparing for their preseason opener against the Eagles on Thursday. It will be the next chance for guys to make their case and earn their spots.
