Highlights and takeaways from the Bengals’ Wednesday training camp practice

Almost everyone knew Tuesday night that the Cincinnati Bengals were having some offensive issues in the first handful of training camp practices.

When Wednesday morning rolled around, it became one of the hottest topics on NFL Twitter.

Reports from the struggling Cincinnati offensive line, to Ja’Marr Chase and the receiving corps failing to open systematically, with Joe Burrow being “uncertain” about his recovering left knee sent the online football world in. a frenzy.

Training camp. Am I right?

Head coach Zac Taylor isn’t making decisions based on what the internet is crying out for, but he has given Burrow a day off. It’s part of the ongoing rehab program for his quarterback who still has weeks to go until the regular season starts. Burrow watched Wednesday’s practice in shorts and a bucket hat as Brandon Allen led the 1s on offense to a more stable session against the team’s emerging defense. Riley Reiff watched as well, but Taylor said it should be good to come back sooner rather than later.

Things started hot for Allen. He reportedly hit Tee Higgins and Chase on a few deep balls early in practice. The Bengals’ Twitter account showed the contested nature of Chase’s downline reception.

Before training began, Taylor mentioned that the perceived difficulties of the offense can in part be attributed to the fact that they have not yet had carte blanche to open the offense. Installation was always the primary focus of early practice, which gave defense an inherent advantage.

It’s hard to say if things were much different from a more low-key session on Wednesday, but without a Burrow under the center it’s just hard to say anything.

What we do know is that despite Higgins and Chase’s deep balls, the cornerbacks continued to play well with Trey Hendrickson, who continued to rack up points in the box’s imaginary score.

Vonn Bell also came into action during the red zone drills. Here he interferes with a late throw from Allen to Chase.

Speaking of Chase, the fact that he’s out in the field working with his fellow rookies should be seen as a monumental plus. As much as Bengals fans like to bring up first-round failures, Chase isn’t just in one of the top five picks so far, he’s not missed a moment and is exactly where he needs to be. Bengals playmaker Dan Hoard took note of how Chase consistently did post-practice work throughout camp.

In kickers news, Austin Siebert got the fieldwork homework and hit seven of his eight attempts. As of now, it doesn’t appear that Siebert or Evan McPherson has done much better or worse than the other. If all else is equal, logic says McPherson gets the job he was drafted for. But having two good kickers at camp is better than one.

If it has to be said, things could be a lot worse this time of year. If any fans know, this is it. The team takes Thursday off before working the weekend. We will be back on Friday.