The Bengals have been back in town this week for the start of training camp. Shemar Stewart and Trey Hendrickson have been no shows to start, as they both are still in the middle of their respective contract disputes. Meanwhile, Zack Moss, Erick All, and Seth McLaughlin all start on the injury list, as reported earlier. Daxton Hill was out there, however. Coming off his ACL injury, he is getting eased in. But the early reports are positive.
The first official day was on Wednesday. It wasn’t a padded practice, but reporter Charlie Goldsmith noted that it was pretty physical for being unpadded, citing on one play that Chase Brown got “leveled.”
By all accounts, the defence won the first day. The secondary especially received praise. Cam Taylor-Britt broke up a couple of passes, including one where he dislodged the ball from the mitts of Tee Higgins. Geno Stone also had a blitz that forced Burrow to get rid of it quickly, leading to an Oren Burks pass breakup. On another play, Burrow could not find an open target and had to scramble.
We did see Burrow complete some checkdowns, with both Chase Brown and Samaje Perine making a catch. It was a lighter day, and we didn’t really see any shots down the field, which is understandable.
According to John Breech, Evan McPherson was perfect on his kicks, which ranged from 30-50 yards. A positive start for him after a tough 2024 season.
Another interesting note was that Lucas Patrick started things off as the C with the 2nd unit. Cody Ford was the starting RG. Zac Taylor noted that Patrick will also get work at RG, and we’ll see some rotation as things progress.
Day 1 goes to the defence, but it was a light session. We’ll see the Bengals ramp things up in the coming days.
Featured Image Via: Eli Marshall