The Bengals were back at it on Thursday and Friday for days 7 and 8 of training camp. As we are now into the padded practices, with the first one coming on day 6, we continue to get a better idea of who has been making the biggest strides in their development, and who is making a case to win their respective camp battles. On days 7 and 8, there were a lot of big plays to be excited about. However, there were also a few injuries. Let’s take a look at what happened.
Burrow started off day 7 with a deep 60+ yard completion to Tee Higgins. Higgins, despite wanting a new deal from the Bengals, is not holding out, and instead seems to be making the most of things this training camp. He has been outstanding throughout camp, and made several catches on day 7.
Rookie CB Josh Newton has shown some flashes in coverage. He had a few pass breakups, and almost had an interception on one play. There have been some losses for him as well, but overall, his tough nature that he was praised for pre-draft has been evident.
Andrei Iosivas continued his impressive camp with some nice catches, including a TD against Daxton Hill from the redzone during the unscripted portion of practice. Day 7 featured a lot more unscripted stuff than we had seen up to that point.
It took until day 7 for Burrow to finally throw a pick. He was looking for Mike Gesicki, but rookie S Daijahn Anthony made a nice play to jump the route and pick off the pass near the sideline. Fellow S Geno Stone had a nice pass breakup while in coverage against Trenton Irwin.
Day 7 featured some intense battles. The defence had the upper hand for roughly the first half of practice, before the offence picked things up in the second half.
Amarius Mims left practice early on day 7, but was having a good day before that. It was nothing serious, as he was back out there on day 8, where he had another good practice. On one play, he completely locked down Myles Murphy, who otherwise has been having a solid camp in his own right. Mims, of course, continues to be taking those first team reps, while Trent Brown has been working on the rehab field. Brown should be back soon, but evidently isn’t quite ready just yet.
Ja’Marr Chase’s “hold in” continues, while Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard are week to week with their respective injuries. Rookie WR Jermaine Burton left practice on day 7 with an ankle injury. It isn’t said to be serious, however, luckily for the Bengals. The worst injury suffered on day 7 was with DE Cam Sample, who had to be carted off. On day 8, Sample was seen on a scooter and wearing a boot. It is unknown how long he will be out, but his injury seems to be more serious than the others suffered up to this point.
In addition to Sample and Hendrickson, Domenique Davis did not practice on day 8. Meanwhile, Burton was on the rehab field, as was Jay Tufele, Devonnsha Maxwell, Trent Brown, D’Ante Smith, and DJ Ivey. Sam Hubbard also was on the rehab field, which is a positive update regarding his injury.
Joe Burrow had a couple of stand out deep shots on day 8. He found Charlie Jones down the sideline on one play. On another, he scrambled to his right and let one go on the run, finding Shedrick Jackson for a deep TD of 50+ yards.
Iosivas also continued to impress on day 8. Dan Hoard noted that he was impressed with his tendency to extend his arms and make catches with his hands. Something Iosivas said that he worked on during the offseason.
On the defensive side, Vonn Bell had a good day, which included a pass breakup while in coverage against Charlie Jones. Bell has received praise from both Zac Taylor and Lou Anarumo a lot since his return, giving him some credit for the defence’s improved communication. It is good to also see Bell making plays in camp.
Day 8 also featured some special teams work. Dan Hoard mentioned, regarding the punter battle, that special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons is tracking things like hang time and distance, which will factor into the competition between Brad Robbins, Austin McNamara, and Ryan Rehkow.
The Bengals are off on Saturday, and back at in on Sunday.
