PLAYER OF THE DAY

CB Cam Taylor-Britt

He could have been the guy on Tuesday, too, and maybe last Saturday or Sunday. Ever since he's come back from soreness that kept him out of camp and the preseason opener until last weekend, Taylor-Britt has been winning his share of battles against the league's No. 1 tandem in wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and he knows what that means.

"If we're the best defense they see and they're the best offense we see, some good things are going to happen," Taylor-Britt said after Wednesday morning's 90-degree roast of Joe Burrow and his No. 1 offense.

The defense dominated, allowing only one touchdown during an hour's worth of Move-the-Ball situations for both the Ones and the Twos as the No. 1s were hit with multiple delay of games. The offensive line took the blame as center Ted Karras anticipated the topics to be discussed in the O-Line's post-practice meeting.

"Don't suck so bad," Karras said.

But the play of the secondary is a big reason for containing Burrow on Wednesday, a camp rarity. Particularly what Taylor-Britt did matched against Chase and Higgins in one-on-one coverage. Cornerbacks coach Charles Burks counted a pass breakup for Taylor-Britt on both Chase and Higgins when he had had no help.

"He's himself," said Burks, a very big statement about a guy who was benched twice last year. "He affected the timing of the offense and made Joe go to a second read constantly. He's really in a great spot playing with discipline, good eyes, confidence."

Burks has been pounding "consistency," into him so much during his four seasons that Taylor-Britt even walks his dog at the same post-practice time this camp.

He appeared to be on the verge of going to a Pro Bowl following his first two seasons. Now, after never leaving his offseason training spot in Dallas, learning some painful lessons last season, and faced with his son's first birthday next month, Taylor-Britt says he's better now than he was then.

"I've put too much work into it, bro. I'm really locked into me," Taylor-Britt said. "I have to do it again tomorrow. Be consistent. All the time.

"If you make the bed in the morning, you'll start your day off right. It's the same thing with football stuff. You've got to do the same thing every day."

After Tuesday's practice (when he had a textbook denial of Chase on the sideline), Taylor-Britt did what he had to do to be consistent on Wednesday.

"Recover and have my mind right. Simple as that," Taylor-Britt said. "It's about what I do, not about what they do. Going into the training room (to recover). You saw me running. I couldn't have run like that without recovery."

Taylor-Britt said when he realized it could all be taken away on one play, every rep became so precious and big. And then there's the baby.

"Another one to feed," he said. "It's bigger now. it just feels better."

Even before he saw Wednesday's tape, Burks isolated CTB's best play of the day as he walked off the Kettering Health Practice Fields. There had been a play-action. Taylor-Britt had jumped on Higgins so immediately that Burrow couldn't throw it to him.

"He didn't even let Tee Higgins into his route because his technique was so good at the line of scrimmage," Burks said. "It's all about approach. Approach to your preparation. Approach to the game. He's intentional in everything he's doing. He's had a really good week technically and fundamentally. He understands the scheme. He's playing really well within the scheme and the discipline is allowing his instincts to take over."

PLAY OF THE DAY

WR Ja'Marr Chase

Taylor-Britt writes it off to learning his craft.

"That's one thing I do every day is work on my technique with the best receiver in the league," Taylor-Britt said.

Somehow, Chase caught an early back-shoulder throw from Burrow even though Taylor-Britt was wallpapered to him on the sideline. Taylor-Britt batted it like he did Tuesday, but this time Chase was able to grab it. Chase bobbled it as both were going to the ground. Somehow, as they hit the ground, Chase was able to corral it before it hit grass.

As Burks yelled, "Great coverage," Taylor-Britt shrugged.

"What can I do?" Taylor-Britt asked, "but line the bleep up again."

Asked how he could make such a play, Chase thought about it before shrugging himself.

"Concentration," he said.

They have been giving pointers to each other all camp. Chase says he has not had a backfire where Taylor-Britt makes a play on him.

"Not yet," Chase said.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Taylor-Britt on the best tip Chase has given him this summer:

"Keep it confidential. I'll pick one off, and when I do, it will show you that's what I'm talking about."

SLANTS AND SCREENS

Marco Wilson is another cornerback who was banged up early, missed the preseason opener and now looks more than ready. He also had a huge day back there, where he denied Higgins' big body on a back-shoulder throw and then, on a Burrow scramble, had good enough position on Higgins that the pass went way over their heads.

All of which is a reminder why they thought Wilson played well down the stretch in the final six games of the year after they claimed him off waivers from New England. In games the Bengals won, Wilson covered on third down No. 1 receivers like Tennessee's Calvin Ridley, Cleveland's Jerry Jeudy and Dallas' CeeDee Lamb.

Burks often says Wilson is the kind of guy who can wake up at 5:30 in the morning and go out and just flat cover.

"Marco is extremely competitive. Somebody I trust," Burks said. "He was an asset to us on third down last year and will be another asset to us on third down this year. He can cover at a high level. He can cover the No. 1s in the league. He can cover Ja'Marr and Tee. If he can cover those guys man to man with no help …" …

It was a rough practice for the offense, complete with the first major scuffle of camp that set the tone of a chippy practice.

Apparently, first-round pick Shemar Stewart started it all on the first series of Move the Ball when he got a little too friendly with Burrow after a terrific pass rush gave him a free run to the pocket. That set everybody off, especially the offensive line.

Karras let Stewart know in his post-practice media scrum that Burrow is how they live and can't be touched. He also said, "We've got to be better (up front). That's on us." New right guard Lucas Patrick, vying to make his fourth Opening Day start with a different club this decade, has been around and got into the mix.

"Got to protect Nine. It has to start with me up front," Patrick said. "I have to play better. Protect better. But I can't let Nine get hit. We have to protect our quarterback. Got to have his back no matter what."

As for dealing with scrums, Patrick appeared to take his own advice: "Be a pro about it. Man-to-man, you talk. Quash it there. Hot, long days going Bengals vs. Bengals for, I can't remember when we reported. We have to protect Nine."

The upside is that Stewart was quite active with the first defensive line rotating with Joseph Ossai and Cam Sample on the edges. Stewart started the day off at right end with Myles Murphy not practicing, and made some nice plays in the running game. He was also one of the guys forcing Burrow to scramble more than he liked.

Patrick may have had some words with Stewart, but he also had these words for him:

"His play speed is pretty significant. You can tell he's starting to get comfortable. There aren't many guys that get full speed in two to three steps like him. It's good to practice against, and it's great to work fundamentals with someone who can move like that. Very few people on this planet cover ground like him at the line of scrimmage." …

Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., wasn't at practice, so, like last year, Cody Ford got the call in his first appearance at left tackle this camp. No word on Brown, but it didn't appear to be alarming …

Cornerback DJ Turner II was dressed with everything but a helmet …

Wide receiver Jermaine Burton remained on the rehab field …

Voice of the Bengals and Ring of Honor member Dave Lapham and Super Bowl safety Solomon Wilcots anchored Sirius NFL Radio's training camp report …

Bengals president Mike Brown, a big Reds fan, welcomed a contingent of Reds players to practice. Head coach Zac Taylor chatted them up during stretch. Asked who the best football player among them was, they pointed to 5-9, 180-pound infielder Matt McLain.

"The smallest guy here," they said.

McLain had been telling them about his career at Beckman High School in Irvine, Calif., where he had six interceptions as a sophomore cornerback. But that was it for football. The team wasn't that good and, besides, less than two years later the Diamondbacks made him the 25^th pick in the country before he went to UCLA …