It's quite a week of bonding for the best and most intact Bengals offensive line Joe Burrow has ever had, which included the Great Credit Card Roulette gag center Ted Karras picked up when the old Patriots were teaching him the ropes.

But nestled back in the locker room Tuesday for offseason workouts, they diffused the sizzling chemistry into one simple compound.

Right guard Dalton Risner: "The deal is where I'm at is there's a lot of talk about everyone being brought in and the chemistry of the offensive line and all those things. Now it's time to go be about it. It's all good. It's all positive talk, but now we have to go make it happen …

They brought everyone back (on the O-line). They did their job. Now it's our job to make sure we keep that chemistry going and we stay prepared."

Karras: "We have to play to (the chemistry) … Let's go do it this year. The city wants it. We all want it."

They'll tell you, though, a common denominator of the championship clubs they've been on had offensive lines that knew how to stay tight. Look at their two captains.

Karras broke in on New England's Super Bowl lines of Marcus Cannon, David Andrews, and Nate Solder. Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. watched Karras buddy Joe Thuney bring that Patriotic chemistry to a Chiefs' Super Bowl winner. During his first two years in the league, Brown saw Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist Marshal Yanda and left tackle Ronnie Stanley lead the Ravens to back-to-back AFC North titles, as well as breaking the NFL rushing record.

"Those were great players who helped me to understand what it took, and that helped me over the years, and help me give back to the group," Brown said.

"I don't think great O-line play comes without camaraderie. It's part of a winning culture … We just have a very close-knit group. We've been through the ringer together. It just continues to develop a relationship over the years. I think it bleeds over into our play. It does matter."

Such as Thursday night's dinner at Jeff Ruby-tony Carlo and Johnny celebrating Brown's 30^th birthday, topped off with the boys playing euchre at The Oak Tavern. Karras says it was a perfect attendance of all vet O-linemen. But these guys, who do this at least once a week during the season, don't split the check.

"Ted called, 'Credit Card Roulette,'" Brown said. "Everyone's card (all but Brown's) went in a hat and he called the waiter to pull one out."

The card pulled belonged to tackle Andrew Coker, who has been on the practice squad the past two seasons looking to make his NFL debut and lived through another for a couple of minutes.

"Yeah, I was concerned," said Coker, who computed the thing could be between six and ten grand. "Dalton looked at me and asked, 'Are you concerned?' But Teddy had it all the way. They got me, but they took care of me. Ted said Marcus Cannon pulled it on him in New England."

And, yes, Coker says, chemistry matters. "I've only been in one other room (Raiders), so the other guys can speak to that. But I know vets like Orlando, Ted, and Dalton help so much."

It turns out Karras may owe another dinner this week when he and his wife head out with the Risners. But it sounds like Risner is going to work something out after Karras challenged him and then Risner beat him in the Flying Pig five-kilometer run on Saturday.

"Ted ran well, too," Risner said. "We met up after with the wives."

Risner also has plans next Saturday with a linemate when he and his wife attend the Breakthrough T1D Cincinnatian of the Year Gala at the First Financial Center, where Brown is being honored for his work with Type 1 Diabetes awareness and research.

Running Man

Risner has been running a mile frequently (his best time is 6:54 from last year) and two miles here and there during the last two offseasons. But he never, ever, imagined he would run 3.1 miles at one time. Until Karras challenged him.

It turned into a beautiful day, the best part of which was Risner and his wife crossing the finish line holding hands.

"We wanted to support the Flying Pig and the city," he said.

Running started innocently enough a couple of years ago.

"I started doing research into fasting and long-distance cardio and burning fat," Risner said. "I Iike to burn a lot of fat in the offseason and hopefully build a lot of muscle back. It worked for me last year, and I figured I'd keep it going."

But running 3.1 miles in under 27 minutes?

"To run 8:40 (per mile), I think, is quite a feat. Especially for a guy 315 pounds," said Risner, of the highlight of an offseason that hasn't been a heavy lift around these guys.

Slants and Screens

That O-line room of Scott Peters and assistant Michel McCarthy gets to nine pretty fast if you start speculating about the number of linemen that could be there at the end of training camp. The five starters. Cody Ford and Jalen Rivers, the first tackle and guard off the bench last season, respectively. The two draft picks, fourth-round center Connor Lew and sixth-round utilityman Brian Parker II.

But don't underestimate Coker, an athletic 6-7, 315-pounder from TCU, when it comes to the training camp battle for swing tackle. He has been around long enough to impress enough to keep around.

And after seeing him on the practice squad all last year, Peters says he's excited to see how much more Coker can improve after doing plenty of that last year.

"He's the epitome of a technician,' said Peters, who has been known to occasionally use Coker as a model to the veterans on executing a technique.

"He's really attentive. He's focused. The details matter. He's in the mix. We showed the guys some highlights of things we did well last year. He made the cut a bunch of times because of his application of the techniques. Some guys are better on one side. He was always best on the right side. But in order to be a swing tackle, you have to do both, and he's really worked at it. Last season, he took it to heart on the scout team."

Coker, 25, may have been left holding the check for a minute last week, but he won't be left holding the bag. He believes his strength is what a Bengals tackle has to do above all else. Pass protect.

After a career at TCU in which he made 46 starts, 41 at right and the rest at left, Coker knows he had to lean left in his improvement. The biggest adjustment, he says, has been mirroring what he does on the right naturally.

"I just need to keep trying to make both sides equal," Coker said. "Trying to flip everything (to the left). The hardest thing about it is trying to train for the patterns of body positioning because you're used to doing it a certain way. It feels a little different, and it takes a little time to get used to it." …

Another guy who can play more than one spot (in his four seasons cornerback Dax Hill has started games in the slot at nickel, on the outside corner, and at safety) said Tuesday he prefers playing outside corner after he played so well there in his first full-time season at the spot.

The Bengals are trying to find a replacement for Hill in the slot at nickel after a year one never really emerged. Not until veteran Jalen Davis came off the practice squad and played well enough down the stretch to be considered the frontrunner this spring.

With the drafting of third-rounder Tacario Davis out of Washington, some have pondered if Hill is headed back inside as he heads into a contract year. He prefers not.

"I want to be outside," Hill told a media throng Tuesday. "I feel like staying at one spot is ideal for development. And my mental health."

Hill said all last year that he was more comfortable on the outside. He showed it with a strong season despite coming off a torn ACL that limited him to five games in 2024. His 1,012 snaps were 20^th in the league among cornerbacks, according to Pro Football Focus, and he had a better coverage grade than half of the 19 who played more snaps.

"How well I transitioned to that spot, once you feel like you're growing and producing, I feel the sky's the limit," Hill told the throng. "It's going on year five, and I don't want to waste a whole lot of time. Just doing some introspection. Time has already flown by, so I want to make the most out of it. There's not a whole lot of time left." …