Bengals left guard Dylan Fairchild has yet to get any all-rookie team nods from such outfits as ESPN, CBS and the Pro Football Writers of America, even though he's right there in the mix.

And that's just fine with him.

"I believe comparison is the thief of joy," says Fairchild, quoting a sentiment from his favorite book. "I just look at myself and try to see how good I can be. I can't control all those other guys and how good they are. Of course, that's the level I want.

"But I can play like a Pro Bowler. I can play like an All-Pro. At the end of the day, I don't make decisions. I just keep playing. Control what I can control."

It is Tuesday at Paycor Stadium, three weeks after that promising rookie year ended, and Fairchild is back in the weight room with his left tackle and one of his many mentors, the veteran captain Orlando Brown Jr.

Or, as Fairchild calls him, "The Wizard."

"He knows what defense they're going to run before they run it," Fairchild says.

It's been about two weeks since Brown, Fairchild and the rest of the O-line got back from some R&R with the offensive line in Las Vegas. Like everything else up front, it was masterminded by Brown and fellow captain and center Ted Karras, along with guidance from vet Lucas Patrick.

"Everyone (on the O-Line) showed up. It was awesome. And there were some other guys that showed up. Both Joes made it," says Fairchild of Burrow and Flacco. "There were a lot of guys there. Connection. Camaraderie through the whole offense."

Yet Fairchild said if he sat around another day, "I would have exploded." After shoveling out his Park Hills, Ky., home Monday, his 6-3, 300-pounds were loosened up for the workout.

"I love Cincinnati," Fairchild says. "You see people standing shoulder to shoulder shoveling each other out."

Fairchild spent the season digging his new gig in the Bengals' pass-first offense. The only rookie guards who had more pass blocks than Fairchild's 629 were the Cowboys' Tyler Booker with 631 and the 648 of his old Georgia teammate Tate Ratledge in Detroit, according to Pro Football Focus.

Booker, Ratledge and Seattle's Grey Zabel (614) are the consensus rookie guard picks so far.

Their PFF pass blocking lines are pretty similar. Booker, a player the Bengals had high on their list at No. 17 in last year's draft before he went 12th to Dallas, allowed three sacks, seven quarterback hits and 15 hurries for a total of 25 pressures for an efficiency of 97.6.

Fairchild, a third-rounder, allowed fewer sacks and hits (two and five) to go with 24 hurries for 31 pressures and a 97.2 efficiency.

The second-rounders Ratledge went 2-9-13-24 for 97.9, and Zabel 2-5-21-28 for 97.4.

The Cowboys, Seahawks and Lions all finished in the top eight in offense. The Bengals were sixth in passing yards, second in touchdown passes and finished tied with the Lions for 14th in offensive line pass blocking efficiency, via PFF. The Seahawks were 16th and Dallas 18th.

All-Rookie stuff. But what matters to Fairchild is his comfort in and outside his driveway.

"I feel like this is a very unique team. We have a high- powered offense, and we have a niche for passing the ball, I tell you that," Fairchild says. "And I love it. I like video games. I play Madden. I love throwing go balls."

He'll split his offseason between the Paycor weight room and renovating a home in Georgia with his wife. But it's going to be focused on the fundamentals implemented by new offensive line coach Scott Peters.

"Doubling down on all our fundamentals," Fairchild says. "Pass and run. I know that Coach Peters has done a great job this year teaching us those fundamentals. Breaking down for every single guy, breaking down what he wants and what our specific set of fundamentals are.

"Hands are a big thing I need to continue to develop. Just like my strikes, my combinations. Playing long. These are tools and things that we use that are essential. True mastery of it all is to develop all the tools that you have and use them when they need to be used. That's why O-linemen have our tool belt. There are different situations and different times you use your tools. True mastery of anything is sharpening those tools where you can use any one of them at any time, and that's kind of where I want to be."

Where Fairchild was a year ago is a very different place. Uncertain what the draft would hold, he abstained from the all-star games to get his battered body ready for the NFL scouting combine.

After fighting through a knee injury that cost him two games early in this season and dealing with a variety of pulls the rest of the way ("just bothersome, nothing that kills you,"), he's devoting much of the offseason to getting ready for the sophomore grind.

"Taking care of my body was kind of the biggest thing this year that kind of slowed me," Fairchild says. "That's the No. 1 thing I'm trying to work on is being disciplined in my stretching, what I eat, and hydrating."

Unlike last year at this time, Fairchild was a bit more focused on last Sunday's conference championship games. Super Bowl-bound Patriots left guard Jared Wilson is another Georgia buddy, his old center, and fellow third-rounder who went 14 slots after Fairchild.

"You want to be there. I want to be there, obviously," Fairchild says. "That's where we want to be. That's all I'm thinking about. This next year … Guys are still playing football right now, and that's where we want to be this next year. We're going to show up next year and go kick some ass. That's our attitude and that's what we plan to do."

Fairchild isn't worried about "the thief of joy," a wonderful line that has been attributed to everyone from Theodore Roosevelt to William Shakespeare but has its roots in "The Bible." He says it's the sharpest tool he has.

"That's the biggest thing for me that I try to live my life by," says Fairchild, back in the shed. "It's like the tool belt thing. There are different tools, different sayings, different phrases."