No one can ever remember a Bengals injury report on the Wednesday before the opener looking so blank.

It even said so. "No injuries to report."

There is something else no one can remember, either, as the Bengals prepped for Sunday's game (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s FOX 19) in Cleveland. In the last 39 days before the opener, had they ever signed a former first-round tight end with 300 career catches, a second-round guard with 81 NFL starts and a nose tackle with two rings from his four Super Bowls?

When Noah Fant came through that door July 31, Dalton Risner followed on Aug 28., and Mike Pennel signed on to the practice squad four days later, players, including the big fella, noticed.

The Bengals front office and director of player personnel Duke Tobin didn't hang it up back on March 18, when they gave historic deals to wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. To be fair, the Risner and Pennel deals also got lost a bit in the big ones with NFL sack champion Trey Hendrickson’s $14 million raise on Aug. 25.

"I think those three signings will help us," said quarterback Joe Burrow unsolicited when he responded to a question about Risner.

"I agree, and that is, like you said, rare to be able to get players of that caliber this late in the process," Burrow said after practice. "Obviously, you'd like to be able to get them earlier so they can be integrated in the scheme, in the team. But they're all pros. We're pros, and at the end of the day, when you're out there on Sundays, you got to be able to play well and execute the play that is called, and those guys are all veterans who know how to play football, and it's really been seamless so far."

Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. noticed, too. You knew he was going to know all about the defensive lineman, Pennel, a 34-year-old nose tackle with 33 tackles in 17 postseason games.

"Pennel's a baller. He's done it. He's won championships. He's played at a high level for a long time. For what we've created from a culture standpoint, these are the right guys to bring in at the right time," Brown said.

"All three are impact players that, are to me, starters in this league. They have been starters. It's a testament to upstairs bringing in the right people, right for what we do. I know for a fact that we're going to get the most out of everybody."

They brought in right guard Lucas Patrick a few weeks after they signed Chase and Higgins. He turned 32 the day before Fant signed, so he knows about all the trio. Particularly Pennel.

"Since my first team of employment, I've seen Mike P.," Patrick said of the Packers. "Not many guys that big can move like that. Noah's been a highly-touted, highly drafted player. His skill set is fantastic. He's doing some really good stuff in the run game with us. Dalton … You can never have enough guys who can block. Nothing like experience. You never know what happens in a season.

"Sign of a good team. They're still evaluating, still bringing in guys."

Brown, an eight-year vet himself, hasn't seen an influx of talent hit a roster like this in the preseason. A sign, he believes, of a management that thinks they can win it all now.

"I think for what we want. The understanding and expectation from our front office and upstairs, they know what's at stake," Brown said.

ON GUARD

Although there seemed to be doubt outside, there never seemed to be a point where the Bengals weren't going to start Patrick at right guard Opening Day. He was with the first team for all but a day or two in the spring and training camp.

"I like his experience. I like how he has interacted with the other linemen," said head coach Zac Taylor before Wednesday's practice. "I've got a lot of confidence in him. He's shown me what I needed to see.

"I think Lucas could see this thing coming. I don't like to get into the depth chart. I don't even look at the depth chart. To me, this thing is always fluid up until the game. That doesn't mean we are making a change there. I've always been reluctant to ever say anything like this because I know how things can change at any position. You say it at one position, then you don't say it at another position. What does that say? So I'm always very careful about that."

While they love Risner, he just started practicing last week. But impressively.

"Dalton has come in and presented very well," Taylor said. "It's just integrating him into our schemes and getting him up to speed. He's put every bit of time and effort he can to get up on the verbiage. It all makes sense to him. I feel very comfortable if he had to go in there, he would help us."

Patrick, making his 65^th NFL start and sixth on Opening Day with a fourth different team, has also been a big influence offering a steady hand to rookie left guard Dylan Fairchild as he makes his NFL debut Sunday.

"He's been awesome. Even today at practice, he gave me a tip about the footwork to get to my said destination," Fairchild said after practice. "All those guys over there have embraced me as the guy they get on. But it's in a good way. These guys have been great. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

While Patrick stood at his locker Wednesday extolling the open house culture Brown and center Ted Karras have brought to the offensive line, Fairchild sat at his locker talking about how it has benefited him. Fairchild, a third-round guard from Georgia as the 81^st pick, is staring at a matchup with the fifth pick, Browns rookie defensive tackle Mason Graham. And, at some point, you know four-time All-Pro sacker Myles Garrett is going to move from the edge to check him out.

But Fairchild has been well schooled. The week after he got drafted, Karras put him up in his pool house for about three days while he got jump-started on the playbook. After one rep in team drills this camp, Karras barked at him to get to the right spot.

"I've always given my center free reign to scream at me," Fairchild said. "Especially here, where these guys have been around and seen it all. You have to be able to take it from your own guys."

"I don't live there anymore, but my wife and I have been there and we've been to Orlando's. This is just a great room. My wife and I love it here."

As for a debut with such formidable assignments, Fairchild has been waiting for it.

"This is why I was put on this earth at this moment in time," Fairchild said. "To play football, be a good husband to my wife, and follow God to the best of my ability. It's life and death for me."

Patrick thinks he'll be just fine for a couple of reasons.

"Dylan is in a tough position as a rookie, but he never gets too high or too down on himself," Patrick said. "He's really level-headed. And he has to have physical talents to get drafted that early. We were talking before practice and he just wants to get better. And that's the right mentality to have."

SLANTS AND SCREENS

Fairchild's take on Brown's defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's always tough front: "They're always moving around. The two D-Tackles, they never stop moving ahead, which is the sign of good pass rushers." …

If Zac Taylor and Joey Boese, his head strength and conditioning coach, ever had an affirmation that their plans for the offseason and training camp were dead solid perfect, it had to be Wednesday's injury report. Meanwhile, the Browns listed nine players with the most notable being Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward (shoulder), who was limited …

Ward, 28, suddenly in his eighth season, went 99 yards with a Burrow pick here in 2021.

"What they're very good at is making everything that they do look like every other thing that they do. So as a quarterback, you're not really going to know what the coverage is pre-snap. You're going to have to react to it post-snap. That's difficult sometimes," Burrow said after practice Wednesday. "I think their corners are some of the best in the league. It's always really hard when we go against them.

"And then their defensive line is obviously very disruptive, led by 95 (Garrett). But they have other guys that can get after you, too. Just watching the games from the past, it's a muddy pocket. It's making tight- window throws in a very condensed pocket, often unnatural throwing position." …

Burrow is envisioning Fant's first big YAC.

"I think he brings an after-the-catch element that is unique," Burrow said. "I haven't seen it first-person yet, but I've seen clips and highlights and watched him over the years and I've got a lot of respect for him. I'm going to give him opportunities to go and show what he can do. He's still learning the ins and outs of the offense. But you can tell mentally that he's a smart guy. He's done everything that we've asked of him. When you break the huddle, he's not asking what to do. He knows what he's doing, learning the ins and outs of each individual route and play. He's going to be a big part of what we do." ...