The Bengals had their final two training camp practice sessions before they get set to take on the Washington Commanders on Monday night. On Friday, Geno Stone and Orlando Brown both returned to practice, while Myles Murphy was out. Jermaine Burton and Mike Gesicki, meanwhile, were on the rehab field.
Amarius Mims was limited, which saw Cody Ford take the 11 on 11 reps at RT. He got burned by Shemar Stewart on one play for a sack. He had some struggles, which combined with Lucas Patrick’s continued struggles, made for some issues on the right side. Burrow felt pressure often in this one. Kris Jenkins especially was giving Patrick some trouble. As for Mims, he took the reps during redzone drills, after Ford was struggling during the regular 11 on 11 period.
Despite the pressure, Burrow did still have a good day. On one, he stood in through pressure to get the ball to Tee Higgins, a play which drew some positive reaction. He was able to put together some solid drives, which included a deep shot to Iosivas who elevated to catch the ball in double coverage. Iosivas actually made a few nice plays, as did Chase Brown, both as a receiver and a runner. Ja’Marr Chase capped off one of the drives with a nice sideline TD grab.
An interesting observation was Jake Browning being back working with the second team. He had a nice completion to Charlie Jones. Desmond Ridder did so the other day, following Browning’s preseason struggles. But while the first preseason game earned Ridder some looks, the backup job is still Browning’s to lose, even if the gap is smaller.
On the defensive side, the pressure from the front seven was significant, as already mentioned. As well, Cam Taylor-Britt really had a standout day, making several pass breakups, on a day where he spent a lot of time covering Tee Higgins. Bengals reporter and play-by-play voice, Dan Hoard, commented that he couldn’t remember a completion on Taylor-Britt from this practice session.
Another notable play from Friday was an interception by Josh Newton off Joe Burrow. It was a deeper shot down the sideline, but Burrow underthrew it a little. Newton was able to take advantage.
On Saturday, Mike Gesicki missed, after spending time on the rehab field during Friday’s session. As well, DJ Turner, Cordell Volson, Jalen Davis, Devin Cochran, Myles Murphy, and Cedric Johnson missed, while Cody Ford was on the rehab field. Volson, reportedly, suffered a shoulder injury on Friday. Also out was Trey Hendrickson, who continues his hold-in.
It was a heavy TE day in this one. Noah Fant was involved often, and caught a couple of TD’s during red zone drills. According to Dan Hoard, they came during 7 on 7’s, rather than 11 on 11’s.
Hoard, as well as Zac Taylor, also took note of Kris Jenkins’ progress so far this offseason. He has been disruptive for much of camp. However, the lack of iOL depth in the Bengals organization is also worth noting, so the hope will be that he can carry it over into the regular season.
Andrei Iosivas made a couple of deep catches on Saturday. Things have really heated up for him over the last week or so. He has caught several deep shots in the last while, after a quieter start to camp. Burrow’s accuracy, of course, was on full display during these plays. As well, a back shoulder pass from Burrow to Chase also caught some attention.
Offensively, the top play might have come via Mitchell Tinsley, who made a contested catch through two players. On the defensive side, rookie Demetrius Knight was able to snag a one handed interception in the end zone.
The Bengals will now look ahead to the Washington Commanders on Monday night, for their second of three preseason games.
