The Cincinnati Bengals moved on from the Aug. 13 dustup at training camp, but the underlying issues that led to the shoving match were still present in their latest training camp practice.
The Bengals hit the practice fields adjacent to Paycor Stadium again Aug. 15 ahead of the Aug. 18 preseason matchup with the Washington Commanders, and less than 15 practice sessions remain between now and the Sept. 7 regular-season opener against the Cleveland Browns.
What was supposed to be a high-energy practice on Aug. 15 started out slowly, and quarterback Joe Burrow was slicing and dicing early on in 11-versus-11 play. Later, coordinator Al Golden’s defense started to get its licks in.
Here’s what we observed and thought of the the practice session:
Shemar Stewart speaks about the training camp dustup
Competition has been a constant in this Bengals training camp, but brawling and scrapping after the whistles hasn’t really been part of that. But the biggest shoving match of this year’s camp occurred Aug. 13, and obviously much was made of it.
Here’s a refresher if you missed all the hoopla. The pushing centered around edge rusher Shemar Stewart and guard Lucas Patrick. Stewart beat Patrick on a play, pressured Burrow, appeared to slip, and ended up a little too close to Burrow for everyone’s liking. After all, Burrow, as center Ted Karras said, is “all our hopes and dreams.” So, a couple plays after Stewart got in Burrow’s grill, Patrick made it a point to let Stewart know he had erred. Shoving ensued, but we’ve seen way worse at a Bengals training camp session.
Anyway, Stewart declined to comment on the news-making incidents on Aug. 13 but spoke to media Aug. 15. Cincinnati.com’s Kelsey Conway has more on this, but here’s a taste of Stewart’s explanation.
“It was something easy (to put behind me), especially when it’s an accident,” Stewart said. “It was an accident. I slipped. Next time I should just fall.”
It’s good Stewart faced the media and said his piece on the matter. It wasn’t even necessarily bad he didn’t address it immediately after it happened, but this was a proverbial elephant in the room. Now, it looks to be firmly in the rearview mirror.
Moving on…
Getting to the core of the Burrow-Stewart-Patrick incident
As Karras pointed out following the Aug. 13 practice, Stewart erred, but if the offensive line does its job on the play, Burrow doesn’t see the pressure or suffer the close call that put a scare in every Bengals employee from the practice fields all the way up to the C-suite.
Stewart and Patrick had been battling that day, and Patrick was beat on the play. Stewart got home to Burrow on Aug. 15 in 11-versus-11 play, too. He beat Cody Ford that time, and the sequence was whistled dead for a non-contact sack.
Elsewhere on that play, Patrick was tossed aside by Kris Jenkins. Suffice it to say this particular play wasn’t the highlight of training camp for the offensive line.
Protecting “QB1” is task No. 1 for the entire offense. He’s not (intentionally) facing real contact now, but he will be soon.
Amarius Mims was a partial participant in camp Aug. 15. A consistent presence from him should make the line look and feel more formidable. But several offensive linemen are under the microscope right now, and not without cause. A lighter practice is expected Aug. 16 ahead of Sunday’s travel day for the Washington game. Come Aug. 18 at 8 p.m., I think many pundits and observers would like to see some better protection for the franchise quarterback.
Bengals’ Joe Burrow was carving the defense up
On the positive side, Burrow grew into an effective morning. He and his favorite targets were on the same page today, as was “RB1” Chase Brown.
Eventually, the Bengals’ defense stiffened up. Cam Taylor-Britt came flying in for a pass breakup on Mitchell Tinsley. Taylor-Britt’s reaction seemed to be one that conveyed more relief in making a solid play than pride for how the defense generally looked at that point in the morning.
During the final competitive period of the practice, which was low red zone-centric, Burrow lofted a ball to the corner of the end zone for Chase, who came down with the ball in tight coverage and got at least three feet down (maybe four).
Play of the day
Jake Browning and Charlie Jones had an excellent linkup earlier in the morning, but we’re giving the play of the day to what was made to look like simple toss-and-catch stuff between Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Training camp observations: How the Bengals moved on from the training camp scuffle
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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