With Bengals head coach Zac Taylor expected to play quarterback Joe Burrow and his No. 1 offense more than they've ever played in six preseasons starting Thursday night in Philadelphia (7:30-FOX 19) against the defending Super Bowl champs, Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher has plenty on his plate during the time crunch of training camp.

But he took time out from his script to run Bengals.com senior writer Geoff Hobson through the tires as they discussed the upcoming preseason, last Sunday's productive Move The Ball drill, why the running game has impressed, and how the addition of tight end Noah Fant pads a depth chart that Pitcher says has the most impact players in his decade with the Bengals.

The Conversation

GH: Name me one thing that has stood out from July 23 where you'd say, 'That's pretty good. I wasn't expecting that.'

DP: There's a handful of things as we sit here on Aug. 4. Happy with where we're at. It's not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination. I think our guys have responded well to what we've asked them to do in the run game.

I think we've had some consistency there with being targeted, getting hats on hats. Runners are doing a nice job as we've talked about wanting to be a very efficient rushing attack. So when opportunity presents itself to turn an efficient run into an explosive run, taking advantage of those times. Not always searching those out. And then in the process, you become inefficient because you're trying to hit the home run on every play.

It's a little bit of take-what's-there. Understand what we're trying to accomplish. And then when they're out of a gap, or something unexpected happens, then we're in position to take advantage. And I think our guys up front are doing a good job. We've got a good variety of scheme in and they've adopted it and I think they're executing it, and I think the running backs are doing a really good. That's what I'm pleased with, but

we know that we've got a long way to go there.

GH: You looked like you had pretty good matches with the run and pass game in what was an excellent Move The Ball drill on Sunday. There just seems to be a few more options offensively than there was this time last year even though it's pretty much the same cast.

DP: Where I would agree with you on that statement is that I can't remember a time since I've been here where we've had as many legitimate play-making options as what we have right now. I do think that's true. I think we sit here today with more guys that can impact the game that are a part of our offense than we've ever had before. Naturally, that affords you a lot more opportunity. You also have to incorporate enough, but stay disciplined and not try to be everything all the time. So that's what we're working on.

GH: Chase Brown said everyone involved in the offseason run game tweaks did a good job. He calls some of it "Thick with double teams."

DP: I think every offseason, you just try to find little emphasis points and get better in areas that you know are going to be part of what you do. And then think critically. Take a hard look at, are there things that we want to discontinue? Are there new things that really do fit us that we need to re-emphasize? I do think we did a good job in that process. I think it's ongoing. I think it takes great communication from everybody. Players included. Hopefully, they believe in the plan. I think they do. That's showing in how they execute.

GH: I haven't seen many stretch runs. It's a downhill deal right?

DP: I think that's the core of it. It doesn't mean that we're not going to try to get the ball on the perimeter. We have a variety of ways to do that, and I think we've done that during training camp. But I've said this publicly several times that we understand what the engine of this offense and on this football team is. It's our quarterback, it's our playmakers, so it's our job as coaches and their jobs as players to make sure we can do all the complementary things that we're able to do based on our opponents' response to that.

They know that about us, too. I mean, it's no secret. Everybody knows what makes us go and that's going to continue to be the case. To take the next step as an offense, we've got to be able to take advantage of that.

GH: What were your overall takeaways from Sunday's Move the Ball Drill in team?

DP: I was pleased with how our guys competed. That's always the first time in camp where it feels like real football in the sense that you're not snapping every play in a 16-play team period from the same yard line. There's a psychological element of that. When you actually get to move the football down the field. Just like there's a psychological element to the defense, when they get a sack or a TFL, we have to move the ball backwards. That's real football.

I always welcome this time because when you make big plays in team situations, and then you just walk the ball right back down to where you just snapped the last play from. That doesn't feel real. There's a momentum that comes from being able to move down the field. And I think our guys felt that (Sunday). We were able to make a number of big plays. It's good work for our guys. We ran a lot of plays from a conditioning standpoint. I thought it was a really good day. It's going to replicate what we're going to ask them to do here in a couple of days.

GH: Pretty good tempo.

DP: I think we were able to that. Guys understand our system. They understand what we're asking of them. That's a fringe benefit of having spent so much time together. We feel like we're operating at a pretty high level right now.

GH: Zac has alluded to this. On Thursday against the Eagles, it appears the first team is going to play the most in a preseason game in the six seasons of the Joe Burrow Era. What are you looking for?

DP: I think it all just falls in line with the main message to the team throughout the offseason and training camp. Putting ourselves in the best position possible to play really good football from the time we kick off Week 1. This is just another step to try and accomplish that. I expect us to be crisp. I expect the operation to be really good. I expect the execution to be good. I think our guys are eager about the opportunity. Everybody feels the urgency of starting the season the right way. I think guys understand this is a chance for us to do that. I think we'll play well.

GH: I like what Joe said. Even to get the feel of going on the road as the starter.

DP: Sure, we're going into a stadium where this is the first time they've snapped the football since they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. Yeah, it's a preseason game. But there are going to be fans and they're going be excited, and there's going to be energy in there. So yeah, I think it's good to feel that. Wake up and go through a day. Feel what your body feels like when you wait around all day to play a night game. It's a good chance to get yourself ready.

GH: You're probably going to be pretty vanilla.

DP: We always try to win the football game. There's always a balance there. We don't game-plan this game and scheme this game like we do a regular-season game. But, by the same token, we want to put our guys in position to have success.

GH: Great veteran battle at right guard between Cody Ford and Lucas Patrick. Ford started the first half of camp. Patrick now. Looks pretty even.

DP: Two competitive veterans who know what real NFL football looks like, have had varying levels of success in different roles. Both of them have had to kind of scratch and claw to get to where they are in their careers right now. To me, that's an admirable quality to do that. I think it develops a toughness and a sense of resilience that is good to have. It's good to have guys like that and bring those qualities to the table. We're going to continue to evaluate both those guys as training camp goes on and as the preseason goes on. When the time is right for the team, we'll make a decision and go from there.

GH: What do you do with another talented tight end in Noah Fant?

DP: There's a lot you can do with Noah. We're super excited to have him. Noah is getting a crash course in our offense now. He's a really smart guy who has played in a number of NFL offenses. So he understands conceptually what we try to do. It's just a matter of, 'OK, I've done this before, they called it X and these guys call it Z. OK, I can start to kind of group these things together.' He's been working overtime to get up to speed on that, and we look forward getting him in some team periods this week and seeing where it goes from there.

We brought him in for a reason. We expect him to be a significant contributor. It would be foolish of us, given his skill set, to not utilize them to benefit the team. That's exactly what we're going to do. That will take shape over the next couple of weeks, but we can't wait to get him in there.

GH: Obviously, he's a different style of tight end than Mike Gesicki and the other guys that came before him.

DP: To me, he's a complete player. He's big, he's explosive. You can just watch him run and catch routes on air for the last two days. It's pretty clear to anybody watching he's big, fast, and explosive. And he transitions once he has the football in his hands into a big explosive runner who is hard to tackle and has a degree of physicality to his running style. From a pass game standpoint, he can do most things you could ever want a tight end to able to do.

You're right. He is different than Mike. They all get put in one room, but there are three different positions that live in that room with how our offense exists. That can be hard to sometimes grasp. He's his own person, he's his own player. He's a talented guy with a wide-ranging skill set. I happen to think that he can give us winning-level production in the run game.

It's just on us to use him to his strengths. But he competes. He works to play with technique. He's strong. Drew’s (Sample) is a heck of a blocker in that role and I take pride in the fact that we try to use all our guys to their strengths and we'll do the same with Noah. I think he can give us winning-level production there.

GH: Somebody was asking me, what do defenses do now on third down when Mike, Noah, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are in there?

DP: To our conversation earlier, even then there's a couple of guys that aren't on the field that I still have the confidence in that are winners. There'll be a variety of personnel groupings that opponents are going to have to prepare for. There'll be a lot. We're going to use all these guys. We're going to make sure they're all involved. The best part of all that is I think we've got a building-full of guys that just want to help the team win a championship. That's exactly how we're going to use them.

GH: Mike and Noah will be on the field at the same time, right? Two of the more prolific pass-catching tight ends of the decade,

DP: There'll be times when Mike and Noah are on the field together, there'll be times when Noah and Drew are on the field, there'll be times when Mike and Drew are on the field. There'll be times when we'll have three of them on the field, and that doesn't even factor in

the fact that there are other guys in that room that, by the way, can play some pretty good football. Tanner Hudson has made 20 catches in the last two practices, so don't forget about him. That just shows you the kind of competitor he is.

GH: First time in three years Joe, Ja'Marr and Tee are camping out. You can tell, can't you?

DP: I think so. There's no substitute for time spent together and reps taken together, and those guys have a lot of reps accumulated over the last six seasons. Six for Joe and Tee and five here for Ja'Marr and Joe. But then you go back to LSU, and it's more than that. There is an element of maintaining that timing and rhythm. Those are the things we're able to do right now out there.

GH: Maybe one time before, 2022, they've had this time together.

DP: We're grateful for it. We're going to take advantage of it.

GH: Any guy have your eyes popping out this camp?

DP: I hesitate to highlight one guy. There are a lot of guys that are playing well right now. I think there are some young players having a chance to show what they can do that can help this team. I think (rookie running back) Tahj Brooks has done a nice job. He's got a lot of touches … The challenge for Tahj is to play so well that we have to find a way to get you out there, too. We know what we've got in Chase Brown and we know what we've got in Samaje (Perine). We love both those guys.

GH: Wide receiver Jermaine Burton has had 10 practices, and it seems like he's starting to look like the guy you thought you drafted last year.

DP: We'll know when Jermaine has really made the next step, and he's working towards it, when that question stops getting asked. When the consistency has arrived to a point where that question about whether what he's doing well becomes the expectation. That's when we'll really know he's gotten himself to turn the page. He's working at it. He really is. It's like anything. It has to be an everyday thing. As long as he keeps it that way, then he's got a chance.