A strong and informative team contraction on Friday kickstarted a positive weekend for the Cincinnati Bengals. The team had off Saturday morning, but returned to the practice field Sunday morning for another padded exercise.
Veterans AJ Green and Shawn Williams stay out first. Per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com we can expect Green to practice sometime this week.
A few players put on pads for the first time this month. Another was featured in padded team drills for the first time in his career.
Return of the recipients
AJ watch went through Sunday when Green was still observed from the sidelines. Meanwhile, John Ross made his expected return to the practice field. Ross was rumored to be returning to Cincinnati last week after spending several days in California with his three-year-old son and mother of the child, after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month.
Ross said after practice he returned to Cincinnati Thursday and that his son is feeling better.
John Ross said he returned to town Thursday morning. Confirms that his son is now feeling OK.
– Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) August 23, 2020
Ross stepped on the field as soon as possible, considering he had just returned to the state a few days ago. He was seen working with the rest of the receivers in individual drills, but was an observer during team drills. The coaching staff wants to put him back into things after his absence.
That the coaches made with Tee Higgins in team drills is just something. After recovering from a hamstring injury, Higgins took part in 11-on-11 drills for the first time.
Despite this, the starting receiver trio of the team of Auden Tate, Tyler Boyd, and Mike Thomas did not change at first. Higgins got some work done with Joe Burrow during red zone drills.
It looks like Ross is out of the team. Higgins had a TD in Burrow’s red zone on the back line, but he escaped
– Geoff Hobson (@GeoffHobsonCin) August 23, 2020
With the amount of work that Tate and Thomas have gotten with Joe Burrow, it’s no surprise to see them stay at the 1s. After a few more practices with Higgins and Ross back in the mix, we can see some changes.
Tench warfare is heating up
Every time the Bengals’ defensive line wins a player instead of losing one to an injury, it is a cherished victory. That’s what happened when rookie defensively finished and select fifth-round Khalid Kareem made his practice debut on Sunday. Kareem did not do anything else for the first time, but the players for him on the depth map certainly did.
1-on-1s with offensive linemen Jonah Williams and Michael Jordan in the second year have received a lot of buzz since pads arrived last week. Williams was put to the test again and had a nice clean day during those drills.
Jordan had the practice match of his life last week when he pancake Geno Atkins. The thing about Atkins, the dominant force he is, is that he does not stay down for long. Atkins got his revenge in a routine pass-rushing win for the two-time All-Pro.
As always, these clips are fun to talk about, but they are not very practical in predicting success when the games start. We know Atkins is a tax king, and we know Jordan has to iron out inconsistencies in passport protection. It is war in the trenches; sometimes you win, sometimes not. But you very rarely fight on your own as the players in these drills are.
With Williams, his isolated work can be analyzed a bit more sensitively, as there will be situations where he will be on an island in protection. The rare losses he takes right away are when rushers come from within and he gets no help, which can be mitigated in real-game scenarios.
The young duo of Williams and Jordan look promising, and seeing the competition they face every day, we know we are witnessing legitimate growth.
Opportunistic defense strikes again
The Carlos Dunlap we saw at the tail end of the 2019 season appears to be back in full force this year.
Last week, Dunlap kicked not one, but two interceptions into one practice. Dunlap’s disruptive manners forced another turnover on Sunday. His outstretched hand tipped a Burrow pass that fell into the hands of cornerback Winston Rose. Rose has competed with LeShaun Sims for playing time at cornerback, and Sims also reeled in an interpretation of his own. Burrow ended the day with a few throws on the line.
Dunlap was in solidarity with the other aspects of his job description. He was responsible for a few runstops and would have fired Burrow if it had been a game and not practice after running Williams.
An abundance of sacks and interceptions will be needed if Lou Anarumo’s defense wants to make a quick turnaround after last season.
