Bengals training camp news: 4 takeaways from Cincy’s first padded practice

Everything is fun and fun until the hits start.

Not only did the Cincinnati Bengals put on full pads for the first time Tuesday morning, but they also experienced rains. While being forced to train outside in sloppy conditions exposes players to inclement weather, it can absolutely make training sloppy. Sloppy practice doesn’t prepare you to win football matches and can sometimes deteriorate your roster. But lessons always form one way or another.

We are also learning things. Here is what we learned from the practice today.

Welcome to the league, kid

Sooner or later Joe Burrow was going to be in trouble.

After the sun shone on Number 9 yesterday before God and the local media for the first time, a day of ups and downs was set for Burrow on Tuesday.

The ups were good. He has met receivers Tyler Boyd and Mike Thomas on several occasions for touchdowns in and out of the red zone. Boyd has unsurprisingly been Burrow’s favorite target in practice so far, given the success of his connection with slots catcher Justin Jefferson at LSU.

The red zone is also where Burrow ran into trouble. Despite injuries ravaging the defensive line, Burrow has been seen scrambling often to evade sackers under playing circumstances. When the rain was falling at its strongest, Burrow also fumbled for a snap. Later, after securing the ball safely, a pass from Burrow was knocked out of the air by Sam Hubbard and fell into the hands of Carlos Dunlap.

Everything is faster when the field becomes shorter.

“OK, that wasn’t what you would like to see on a red zone day.” Burrow told reporters after training. “I felt good putting the pads back on, but the windows are tighter [than college] and you have to be quick on your feet.

One day at a time, Burrow will thrive and struggle, sometimes almost simultaneously. Do you think he’s nervous about what’s to come?

Receiver Revelations

We learned early in the practice that AJ Green was not going to be part of the practice. We learned after training that Green will not be part of any practice this week. Slight hamstring strain will keep Green from taking part in Friday’s scrum, but that’s not because he can’t go if necessary, as Zac Taylor alluded to.

Remember: this is not the first week of training camp. Green and Burrow were online for almost two weeks before Monday morning. Mild hamstring disease is not the same as an ankle injury that saw Green throwing his helmet off in frustration last July. We will resume Green Watch next week when new developments start flowing in.

In Green’s place was Auden Tate, with Thomas lined up on the other side of the lineup as he was yesterday. One of the two numbers to stick with the starters while Green is out. A more pressing question may be who will be released when Tee Higgins returns.

Higgins was seen working with the rest of the receivers in the individual drills but was kept out of the team drills as he continues to recover from his own minor hamstring injury.

With Thomas having consecutive promising days, it’s worth considering if he’s building a case to stay on the pitch, regardless of the status of Green, Higgins and John Ross, who stay away from the squad.

Jonah being Jonah

The current buffers tell us more about the trenches than we previously knew, but even that knowledge doesn’t mean much.

Jonah Williams being good at football should have already been assumed.

On day one of the online and online head-to-head, Williams scores a modest victory as all reports claim last year’s first-round pick produced a clean day against defenders from the starting edge. of the Bengals.

Where Williams was on this piece, well, we’d all like to know.

Williams’ replacement at the moment appears to be sixth-round rookie Hakeem Adeniji, with Fred Johnson also occupying the right tackle in the second team. How many teams can say their starting quarterback, left tackle, and backup left tackle have a combined instant zero experience in the NFL?

It’s a good thing the last two first-round picks took those spots.

Defense watch the game, as usual

The defense that jumps when the pads light up isn’t anything new. Dunlap not only intercepted the franchise’s new face following a deflection, he also returned to cover and landed a stray pitch from Ryan Finley.

Even with a rotation still going on to the cornerback to William Jackson III, even with Shawn Williams joining Renell Wren as the last player to leave the field via the injury basket, even with linebackers still learning to play with each other , the defense gave Burrow and the offense matches.

Losing Williams can hurt rear end rotation throughout the season, but it’s just another blow that Jackson and the secondary have to deal with.

We’re only days away from the Bengals’ first intrasquad scrum, and it would be nice if the cart stayed away at least until then.