Germaine Pratt is quickly becoming one of the most-talked-about members of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Pratt made one of the biggest highlights of a special camp event by returning an interception for a touchdown. He’s also been tabbed by outsiders as one of the NFL’s most interesting rookies to watch.
Inside the organization, Bengals coaches are thrilled about his debut Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, too.
Special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons listed Pratt as the guy he’s most interested to watch against the Chiefs, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic: “If he can step up to the mic physically and show a physical presence and play as a linebacker. Not as a safety, as a linebacker. He wears 57 now. He doesn’t wear 37 or 27. He’s 57. I want to see him be able to physically be able to stand up to it.”
Ditto for defensive assistant Mark Duffner: “It’s all nice out here, but when the pads are on and you got to be able to strike in the run game and react and play in the pass game or also in the blitz game that all comes up. ”
In other words, Bengals coaches want to see if what Pratt has shown in camp can translate to live action. He’s a former safety with a ton of upside thanks to his abilities in coverage, so he could quickly morph into a big reason the Bengals turn around one of their worst units from last season.
Clearly, Bengals coaches are just as excited as fans for Saturday night, in large part thanks to Pratt.
