Two vignettes from Tuesday as the new Bengals coaches continue to take their changes from the classroom to the field during the first week of spring voluntary drills (OTAs) on the grass.

Left guard Cordell Volson stayed on the field after the workout for a one-on-one technique session with new offensive line coach Scott Peters.

"Mixing his way with the way we've done things before a little bit," Volson said. "He does a really good job of pairing things with personnel."

Then, after everyone came off the field, safety Geno Stone pondered how new coordinator Al Golden has made the defense different.

"The thing I'll say is there's no gray area. You know what you're doing," Stone said. "He makes it clear for us. I love his approach every day. Fiery guy. He's all about disruption. Disrupting the quarterback. Getting the ball. Taking the ball away. It reminds me a lot of Mike Macdonald when I was in Baltimore."

That's giving Stone a lift because when Macdonald ran the Baltimore defense in 2023, Stone led the AFC with seven interceptions on the first defense to ever lead the league in sacks, turnovers and scoring average.

That earned Macdonald the head job in Seattle and Stone, a seventh-round pick in his first year starting, a two-year deal in free agency with the Bengals. Stone is looking for more than last year's four interceptions and fewer than 15 missed tackles and thinks Golden is just the guy who can help him get it.

"That's why I'm ready for a big year. Honestly, I just have to go do it," Stone said. "The main thing I've got to work on is my tackling. In my head, I think. My ball hawk skills are still there. It's about my pursuit angles this year. It's all about repetition in these OTAs and camp, and I'm ready to be that leader in the room and get ready to go."

Volson is also seeking a fresh start under a new coach. After playing every snap of his career since the Bengals took him in the fourth round of the 2022 draft, he lost his job down the stretch to Cody Ford.

When the Bengals drafted Georgia's Dylan Fairchild in the third round last month, they said the left guard was his job to win. Plus, they also signed veteran starting guard Lucas Patrick in free agency.

"I just love this game. I think competition's a good thing," Volson said. "I think it brings out the best in everyone.

"That's great. I came in as a rookie, too. I'll do whatever I can to help as well and continue to help the team in the right direction."

Volson is poised for a training camp battle. Here's a guy who has played more snaps than anybody on the Bengals offense in the last three years but fellow interior linemen Ted Karras and Alex Cappa, and is a four-time national champion from those powerhouse North Dakota State clubs.

As part of the commitment to get his job back, Volson went back to the beginning this offseason and returned to that championship Fargo weight room.

"A handful of us who played together and are in the NFL, we trained together for a couple of months," Volson said. "We went back to our roots. That was kind of the idea. We have a lot of trust in our strength coach from college and we used his program."

Volson spent Tuesday getting used to Peters' program, and after they danced through some steps, they walked off the field together talking about it.

"Different set angles and hand placement and new stuff he's implementing," Volson said. "I'll set things different than Cody. Cody is going to set things different than Luke (Patrick). He does a good job pairing up and giving tools to our toolboxes for each different guy."

Stone's hammer as a safety is communication. He doesn't want to tip foes on anything, so he said simply, "There's not much communication." In this case, that's a good thing.

"He makes it simple," said Stone on Day Two. "The way they're teaching us to do certain techniques and stuff know, it's kind of what I did in Baltimore. I like it a lot."