Bengals News: 9 takeaways from training camp first inspection

The Bengals have a unique dilemma at hand.

They have a rookie quarterback, but no preseason games on the schedule. This means they should try to simulate game action, because Joe Burrow’s first NFL snaps will be in a game that counts.

The Bengals play their first contraction of training camp on Friday morning. Although the media were not allowed to film any of the controls, they were able to attend and report on what they saw.

Here are nine takeaways from the Bengals’ controls on Friday.

Injuries

AJ Green, Shawn Williams, and others were sidelined from today’s scrimmage. Williams and Tee Higgins worked out on the rehab field. Green has been working through a hamstring injury, but he was planning to take the day off, nonetheless. John Ross also stayed out, as he is expected to rejoin the team this weekend after moving in with his family.

Hopefully most of these guys are able to go when the next scrimmage of the team is. But if nothing else, they are all expected to be ready by week 1.

Joe Burrow played as advertised

Burrow had a warm start to the day. He started his first ride and completed all six of his passing attempts. He completed eight in a row before finally throwing an unfulling. He was nine for ten after the first two discs with two touchdowns.

He finished the day with 13 for 19 with three touchdown passes. Overall a good day for the rookie.

Seeing the receivers that Burrow was without today, it’s great to see that he was still able to flourish with the weapons he had. These scrimmages are as close to preseason games as Burrow will get, so it’s good to see that his first was a success.

Auden Tate had two receiving touchdowns

With Green, Ross and Higgins out, Auden Tate was the star of the day at receiver. Tate caught Burrow’s first two touchdown passes and also made some highlight jokes, one of which came on a 3rd-and-14 conversion.

With Green and Ross set to become free agents next year, Tate has a chance to focus on himself this offseason as a focal point, and he has already begun to do so after a successful first check.

Another former Florida State Seminole, Jacques Patrick, turned his head during the inspection.

Patrick was undrafted by the NFL 2019, but embraced the XFL concept and played for the Tampa Bay Vipers.

With the failed physique of Rodney Anderson, the Bengals seek to fill the third running place again. It looks like it will come down to Patrick and Samaje Perine, who also yelled for a touchdown in the scrimmage.

Patrick was never the lead back at Florida State because he was in a commission approach, and he was not with an NFL team for Cincinnati, so he is still a relative unknown at this point. The 6-3, 236-pound bruiser could be a nice change of pace compared to the other backs on the roster.

If nothing else, Patrick seems to be doing a good job for a place in the training team.

Ryan Finley has shown improvement from last season

Ryan Finley’s rookie year did not go well. He completed 47.1 percent of his pass for a 62.1 passer rating in three starts, of which the Bengals lost.

He seemed to be better at checking, though against the defense of the second string.

Finley competes with Brandon Allen for the right to be Burrow’s backup. So far, it seems like Finley has a slight lead after a productive scrimmage. It certainly helps that he’s been in Zac Taylor’s system for a whole year.

The Bengals’ receiving room is full this year, and Alex Erickson is in danger of losing his place. Normally, his capabilities of special teams give him an advantage, but with Brandon Wilson and Darius Phillips, that may not be enough.

Erickson helped his case Friday with a solid outing, getting passes from both Burrow and Finely.

Erickson has to deal with some tough competition from Damion Willis, Stanley Morgan Jr. and Mike Thomas for one of the definitive receiver spots, so it’s good to see the veteran respond with a solid exit today.

Burrow and red-zone offense struggles

Burrow’s first practices in the red zone have been disappointing. That trend appeared to continue during the check.

On discs that started on the opposite 30-yard line, the offense had to settle for field goals.

Interestingly, Finley does not have the same difficulty with Burrow, but the former has been in this system for a whole year. Let’s see how Burrow looks in the next scrimmage before you worry about this issue.

And it will certainly help with this problem if Green, Higgins and Ross are all in the lineup.

Sam Hubbard was a handful for the first offense, or he was in cover when the passerby yelled.

In his first two seasons with the Bengals, Hubbard has shown blitzes of a major influencer in this defense, and that was to be seen today. When he steps up his game in year 3 with Geno Atkins, Carlos Dunlap, DJ Reader and Carl Lawson doing what they do, this already impressive defensive line flat-out becomes horrible for opposing offenses.

False start plagued the offensive line

One problem that could dampen Burrow’s rookie campaign is penalties before snap. The first team had four false starts on the first two discs, which is just not acceptable, but also to be expected for a rookie in his first NFL check.

Zac Taylor said false starts are typical of a teams’ first precision game. That makes sense, because the offensive line configuration is new and they are playing with a quarterback they have never played before.

However, these have been problems in recent years, so it’s a bit plausible that they’re seeing their ugly head again.

Hopefully, with more practical snaps, the line will get used to the cadence and rhythm of their new quarterback and the penalties will be no problem.