As the Cincinnati Bengals continue to prepare for their preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, a clearer picture is emerging as to what shape the 2019 roster will take. Here are some winners and losers of training camp so far.
Winner: Backup receivers
With A.J. Green succumbing to injury less than an hour into training camp, a natural opportunity has presented itself for receivers at the bottom of the depth chart to fill the void left by Green. A number of wideouts have grabbed this opportunity with both hands, looking to show that they can step into the starting lineup and make plays in the absence of the team’s star playmaker.
Josh Malone had a disappointing 2018 campaign but has flashed on a number of occasions throughout training camp. Malone is eager to make an impression on the new coaching staff, per Jay Morrison of The Athletic:
“I just wanted to take advantage of all my opportunities and just be ready when my number is called to go make a play. Every moment, every opportunity I get I want to show the coaches what I can do. It’s a new coaching staff, so it feels like a fresh start. And I just want to show them I can play and make an impact when it counts.”
Meanwhile, Damion Willis has received praise for his playmaking ability in a number of practices. The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. noted that the undrafted Troy product has “some Marvin Jones to his game.” Andy Dalton has also thrown his support behind Willis: “D. Will has done a great job. To be undrafted and come in and show some promise early. That’s pretty big.”
Stanley Morgan Jr., another undrafted wideout, has had the opportunity to run with the ones, along with Willis. However, the latter man has been the player grabbing headlines to date.
Auden Tate was at the center of attention on Saturday when he ran a double move on Darius Phillips and high-pointed an underthrown ball from Jeff Driskel. At 6-foot-5, 228 pounds, Tate is a natural replacement for Green due to his size. However, his inability to separate may disadvantage him in his battle for playing time, or even a roster spot.
Winner: Germaine Pratt
Third-round rookie linebacker Germaine Pratt has been mentioned in almost every training camp report over the past week. For years, the Bengals have desperately needed a linebacker to emerge as a dominant presence on their defense. The hope is that they may finally have found that in Pratt.
It’s early, but the NC State linebacker has been making plays — from pass breakups to showcasing sideline-to-sideline ability in run defense drills. One of the highlights of training camp came on Saturday when Pratt picked off an errant pass in a red zone drill and returned it to the house. Defensive scores have evidently been an emphasis of the new coaching staff, as illustrated by Pratt:
“We’ve got to score on defense to win games. That was emphasized by coach Taylor, so it was huge. Coach just emphasizes when a defense player gets a turnover to try to run and score.”
Winner: Carl Lawson
Lawson is the team’s most talented pass rusher when healthy. Thankfully, he appears to have made a full recovery from the ACL tear that ended his 2018 season. Paul Dehner Jr. heaped praise on Lawson:
“Any wondering about how Lawson would look coming back from the ACL injury was quickly put to rest as he beat up on the Bengals tackles, including what would have been a sack against starting left tackle Cordy Glenn.”
Lawson has said that he feels “faster and stronger.” That’s bad news for AFC North offensive tackles.
Loser: John Ross
The 2017 first-round pick has yet to practice, raising further concerns about his durability. Ross has hinted that the coaching staff is taking a cautious approach with him, and that he could have practiced from Day 1 if necessary. Nonetheless, it’s worrying that Ross is watching from the sidelines as a brand new offense is being installed.
Ross has openly stated that he hasn’t put his best foot forward when preparing his body throughout his young NFL career, but promises that things will turn around for him in 2019:
“Being around A.J. and Andy and them, they’re telling me how much they put into their body. It didn’t really click until this year because he said he spent so much money on his body, that’s how he makes so much money. Now that I learned that, it’s going to be a complete turnaround for me. I know for a fact this is going to be my best year.”
Loser: Welcome Stadium groundskeeper
Thoughts and prayers to Hal Bailey, the stadium caretaker of Dayton’s Welcome Stadium. Henceforth, he will be known as the scapegoat for any of the team’s struggles throughout the month of September, or whatever length of time A.J. Green misses due to injury.
The NFL wanted the Bengals to practice in Dayton to commemorate the league’s 100th season, and according to reports, the league was prepared to build a new field in Dayton that would have cost almost half a million dollars. However, it subsequently arose that the proposed site of this field rested on a Native American burial ground, and so the plan was scrapped.
Tyler Boyd complained that the turf was in poor condition:
“I couldn’t run any routes. I was falling all over. It was bad. There was rocks, pebbles out there. It was somewhere we shouldn’t have been.”
In reality, the injury was a freak occurrence that appears to have had nothing to do with the condition of the field. Nonetheless, Mr. Bailey, who is responsible for grooming the field twice a month, will face the wrath of Bengals fans if the team has a poor start to the season. Football is weird sometimes.
