PLAY OF THE DAY

NT T.J. Slaton and RT Amarius Mims

You had to wait until Sunday's last snap, just as a few sparse raindrops began to spray the Kettering Health Practice Fields.

Quarterback Joe Burrow had sifted the Bengals defense all morning. In both team periods and seven-on-seven, the ball had been on the ground less than your best silverware.

Until head coach Zac Taylor opened the last part of the low red zone, and new defensive coordinator Al Golden’s chippy crew bounced back and shut it down.

On Burrow's last chance to throw it in for a touchdown from about the 2, Slaton, the veteran nose tackle from Green Bay, did what he's been doing all four practices: Making the middle uncomfortable.

With defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. working a play with right edge Joseph Ossai, the 6-5, 340-pound Slaton penetrated enough to hurry up Burrow just enough to short-circuit the play.

Slaton, it turned out, provided the foreshadowing of a classic novelist. It was the last play before the pads come on for the first time Monday, and the big boys finally get their days in the plot twists. And it was a true vet play because on the snap before, Slaton was caught offsides.

Short memory.

"He's just been a force on the run or pass," Jenkins said. "He makes his presence known. Very athletic."

The early-camp storylines have revolved around Golden and a new-look defense that has been a feisty foe for Burrow's elite offense. Slaton adds muscle and zest to the new mix.

"We're not going to let you get in in practice,' Slaton said. "If we let somebody in in practice, they're going to get in during the game. So when it's the red zone, nobody gets in. But it's only day four. We've still got work to do. We're still getting things together."

One of them is getting first-rounder Shemar Stewart into the lineup after he signed his rookie deal Saturday. One of his first 10 plays or so came on that last snap as he lined up over Mims at right tackle.

Mims did what he's been doing all camp, too, which is pretty much not letting anyone breathe on Burrow, never mind flushing him from the pocket. After the snap, Mims chatted with Stewart as Taylor called them up to end the workout.

"I was in his shoes last year," Mims said. "First-round pick. A lot of expectations. I was just telling him it's practice. This is the time where you get better. Just learn from the older guys. Perfect your craft. It's not easy out there. it's his first day. Just giving him encouraging words.

"He got a few plays under his belt. I feel like he'll trend up every day. You're the 17^th pick in the draft for a reason. You have to be good."

Mims should know. He was the 18^th pick last year and overcame his own share of adversity with a preseason shoulder injury to log an impressive rookie year. He spends time talking and texting with Stewart and has a good feeling about him after some long chats.

"He's a good guy. He's young. He doesn't know everything yet. We're here to help him with that," Mims said. "I think he'll be a good player for us. Versatile. The defensive coaches are going to like working with that."

Stewart, who didn't practice during the spring during contract talks, arrived as advertised. A chiseled 6-5, 267 pounds who can move up and down the line.

On Sunday, he lined up on both edges and slid inside on goal-line.

"He's got a lot of jobs we'll ask him to do," said defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery. "It's going to be a process. He hasn't done any work or any fundamental stuff. But he has a lot of characteristics to work with. I'm excited about that. He'll be fine."

Stewart had a few welcome-to-the-club moments, but he pretty much shrugged them off. Such as when he got caught in the middle of three offensive players on his first snap.

"That's football. You just got a man up, get up off the ground, dust yourself off, and the next play," Stewart said.

Or when lined up over left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.

"I'm like, 'Time to buckle up,'" Stewart said. "Then he put his hands on me, and I'm like, 'You know what, this ain't right.'"

PLAYER OF THE DAY

QB Joe Burrow

Before the defense locked him out of the red zone, Burrow put on a clinic in both team and seven-on-seven where the ball touched the ground twice before the final red-zone period. Both were balls he chucked out of bounds in the face of tight coverage.

He came out sifting right away in team, hitting wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase in stride on a deep over down the right side separating from cornerback DJ Turner II and followed it up by fitting it in over fingertips to wide receiver Tee Higgins on a big-body intermediate pass.

Check out these five completions to five different receivers in seven-on-seven:

Burrow looks off Chase short right, and then barely turns his body to rip it to wide receiver Andrei Iosivas over the middle.

Burrow glimpses Chase between rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr., and cornerback Josh Newton and Chase spins between them to catch a bullet.

Burrow finds Higgins in between Turner and safety Jordan Battle on another deep over that's tightly covered. But Burrow's accuracy and Higgins' strength makes coverage superfluous.

A quick out to wide receiver Isaiah Williams, who dives on the sideline for a stretching catch.

With the defense sitting in a zone, Burrow frozen ropes a ball to wide receiver Jermaine Burton over the middle.

Tight end Mike Gesicki likes that the display came off an off day and bodes well for a team trying to harness the ebbs and flows into September.

"We know there are certain things we're going to emphasize this year in terms of starting fast," Gesicki said. "This was a good example of that. You can never really simulate it exactly how you are when the season kicks off, but this is preparing for it now.

"We're clicking on all cylinders. Making sure we're not beating ourselves. A lot of guys are locked in … I've said it before. (Burrow) is one of one. He puts the ball where we need it and he leads us."

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Stewart on going against Mims:

"If this man don't get his hands off me. Man, his hand is heavy as hell. I feel like two bricks in my chest."

SLANTS AND SCREENS

Stewart asked Montgomery to meet with him first thing Sunday morning to get a jump on the day, but Montgomery already knew he had a committed pupil. "There are no issues there," Montgomery said. "Good kid. It's just a process, that's all."

Except for losing a battle with Gatorade, Stewart thought it was a good start.

"It was great. Getting to play the game I love again for the first time since last year for real, so it was a great feeling," Stewart said. "I accidentally put some Gatorade in my face thinking it was some water. Burnt my eyeballs a little bit. Other than that, the heat got me at first, but I got used to it." …

The second defense got the first turnover of camp when safety Tycen Anderson caught a tipped pass from cornerback Nate Brooks’ battle with tight end Tanner Hudson on a throw from Jake Browning.

"Just chasing my man down. Seeing the ball in the air, turning around to the ball and the ball just found me," Anderson said.

That seems to happen a lot with him. Anderson, who led NFL gunners in tackles last season, had two picks in the 2023 preseason opener. He's looked good this camp, and as for pushing Battle and Geno Stone, he says, "Whatever the team needs me to do." …

A few plays later the defense thought they had another one when linebacker Oren Burks stripped rookie running back Tahj Brooks after a catch and rookie linebacker Barrett Carter recovered a disputed fumble …

Those plays appeared to fuel the low red-zone lockout of Burrow. Turner stopped a touchdown when he knocked away a pass for tight end Drew Sample at the goal line and forced a throwaway when he had Higgins covered in the end zone.

"We didn't start practice the way we wanted as a defense. We want to set a standard around here and the motto of our season is to start fast," Anderson said. "We have to continue to build brick by brick and set a clearer standard. That's the way we want to finish." …

Six more field-goal tries for Evan McPherson, from 38 to 52 yards, all makes. He's yet to miss. Long snappers Cal Adomitis and William Wagner keep splitting the snaps …

Taylor said right guard Lucas Patrick, competing with Cody Ford, is out for a few days, and backup cornerback Marco Wilson is week-to-week with maladies he wouldn't name …

Cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt didn't work much with DJ Ivey getting the bulk of his snaps.

Taylor: "Some guys we'll just continue to monitor through the days. Some of them over the case of yesterday and this morning are sore, so you have to protect them. Cam is a guy we'll take day-to-day." ...

Cornerback Dax Hill took his first team snaps in the slot as they ease him through the finish of his ACL rehab ...