Cincinnati Bengals Practice Report Day 12: 2 Key Firsts on Same Play and a WR Carted Off

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals held their first full practice on the new turf inside Paycor Stadium today in their final preparation for Saturday’s preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“With the concert schedule, we’d not been able to get on it,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said, referring to the two Luke Combs shows last weekend and the two nights of the Cincinnati Music Festival the weekend prior.

“Yesterday’s walk-through was the first time,” Taylor added. “It just makes too much sense to get a practice out there before we go play on Saturday.”

New turf is so much brighter and vibrant pic.twitter.com/b4SOaUPZry

— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) August 8, 2024

Taylor pointed out that many of the new players had never even been inside the stadium.

Cornerback DJ Turner II said after practice that the field felt good and notably softer.

“It definitely felt different from the one last year,” he said.

The back end of the practice was essentially a walk-through, with the second and third teams going over the plays they’ll be running Saturday night against the Buccaneers.

Injury Report

Taylor unknowingly foreshadowed what was to come in practice when he talked about the new turf during his pre-practice news conference.

“A lot of time and energy has been spent on the health and safety of our players, what is best for the health and safety of our players,” he said. “A lot of people in this organization worked tirelessly to make sure we had the best product available so our players can function at their max ability and be safe. Its football, so things are going to happen.”

The thing that happened about an hour later was wide receiver Charlie Jones left practice on a cart, although it didn’t look to be turf related. Jones appeared to bang knees with cornerback Allan George.

Charlie Jones favoring his right leg carted off the field Thursday. Coincidentally first day on new turf. Injury occurred during 7s. pic.twitter.com/ljNmwDToFl

— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) August 8, 2024

Jones could not support himself on his leg and had to be helped to the cart. Numerous players came over to offer condolences before he rode off the field with a trainer.

The receiver, who was limping and moving slowly in the locker room, initially said he would talk after he showered. But a Bengals media relations employee later said Jones would not be doing any interviews.

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Defensive end Trey Hendrickson participated in team drills for the first time since the first practice of camp. Hendrickson returned to practice Wednesday and only did individual drills.

Taylor said the timeline for rookie third-round pick McKinnley Jackson is week to week. He injured his right knee in Monday’s practice.

Defensive tackle Jay Tufele returned to practice after missing more than a week. Taylor said defensive tackle Domenique Davis, who also has been out for more than a week, is day to day.

Quarterback Report

Joe Burrow threw his second interception of camp and first in an 11-on-11 drill on what essentially was an arm punt.

It came on the first series of the move-the-ball portion of practice after B.J. Hill beat Cordell Volson and stuffed Zack Moss for a 5-yard loss. With the offense facing third-and-15, most of the defense was playing near the first-down marker while Turner was lined up on Trenton Irwin on the outside.

Burrow saw the single coverage and took a deep shot, but it never had a chance as Turner had great coverage and finally got his first interception of camp.

“It was good. I had dropped too many,” Turner said. “Mentally, I needed that.”

Turner’s penchant for getting his hands on passes but not pulling them in for interceptions had earned him the nickname “Mr. PBU” from some of his teammates.

“We gonna retire that now,” he said. “I don’t like that.”

On Burrow’s second series in the drill, he went 4 for 5, but the incompletion came on third and 5 at the plus 20-yard line when he and Kendric Pryor weren’t on the same page. Burrow threw a back-shoulder pass for Pryor, but the receiver kept running, and the ball landed harmlessly out of bounds.

Browning’s lone drive in the session lasted 11 plays and resulted in him scrambling in from 8 yards out for a touchdown. Browning was 3 for 4 on the drive with completions of 20 yards to Jermaine Burton, 8 yards to Erick All, and 23 yards to Kwamie Lassiter II.

The first 11-on-11 period took place in the low red zone, with the first- and second-team offenses each getting a few plays per series. Burrow cashed in on three of the first team’s seven plays with touchdown passes to Zack Moss and Andrei Iosivas, while Moss also ran one in from 5 yards out.

The second team scored on two of its four plays, with Browning throwing a rare shovel pass during a rollout to the left to connect with Irwin. One play later, Browning hit Jones for a 3-yard TD.

Stock Rising

Hill broke through the offensive line twice in a three-play span in a red-zone 11-on-11 period. Hill flushed Burrow from the pocket on the first and forced a throwaway.

On the second, Hill beat right guard Alex Cappa so badly that the coaches whistled the play dead before Burrow could do anything. Later in a one-on-one drill, Hill easily got around Cappa again.

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Charlie Jones’ injury could create a crack for Shedrick Jackson or Kendric Pryor to make the 53-man roster. Both receivers have had solid camps and have been afforded occasional snaps with the first team, with Ja’Marr Chase sitting out all of camp and Tee Higgins taking periodic off days.

Stock Falling

Orlando Brown Jr. struggled against Joseph Ossai in a one-on-one drill. It’s worth noting that many in the organization felt the 2022 AFC Championship Game was the best of Ossai’s career – until his costly penalty – and it was Brown he was going against most of the time.

It was brutal timing for Jones to go down. He’s having a strong camp, and his comfort with the playbook has him battling Andrei Iosivas for the starting slot receiver job.