The Bengals held their first padded practice of training camp today. This marks the unofficial start, as these are the times where coaches can truly begin to get a glimpse of where players may be at in their development. Some battles have been heating up, and we also got a couple of injury updates. Let’s dive in.
Joe Burrow continued to look good, coming off of his wrist injury. His accuracy seems a lot better, after a few understandable inconsistencies a bit earlier on in the process. He is also moving well, escaping pressure and scrambling for positive yardage. Burrow had some nice completions in the 11 on 11 drills, spreading the ball around. Tee Higgins and Mike Gesicki make some nice catches. The Higgins vs Taylor-Britt battle was fun. Burrow also found guys like Iosivas, Irwin, and Chase Brown. Iosivas did commit a couple of early drops, but bounced back later on.
Jermaine Burton had a standout day, making some nice catches. His biggest highlight was a TD catch from Logan Woodside.
Erick All got some work in 7 on 7’s. On his first play, he made a nice leaping catch in traffic from Jake Browning. Another positive step for the rookie TE, after he suffered an ACL injury in college last season.
The Bengals CB2 battle continues, with more flashes from Turner and Hill. Hill especially had a good day, which included a nice breakup to prevent a TD.
Depth LB Shaka Heyward notched a pick 6 off of Jake Browning. He is a talented player, and it is good to see him starting to put things together. Hopefully he can build on it as camp progresses.
Charlie Jones might have been the biggest standout on offence. He caught a couple of redzone TD’s, and also made some nice plays between the 20’s. His improvement has been noticeable thus far.
On the injury front, Myles Murphy left the field with a limp. But it was later confirmed by Lou Anarumo to have just been cramps. Ja’Marr Chase was absent once again, but this doesn’t seem to be injury related. DE’s Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson, meanwhile, did not participate, as they are a bit dinged up. OT Trent Brown was also out, but could be nearing a return.
After Zac Taylor noted the improved communication with Vonn Bell’s return, DC Lou Anarumo did so today. He also mentioned Geno Stone, and the benefits of having veteran safeties in the back.
The Bengals will meet tomorrow, but no practice is scheduled. They will be back at it on Thursday.
