Bengals head coach Zac Taylor met the media before Thursday's practice. Here are the highlights:
- Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II and tight end Erick All Jr. have "maintenance," days and won't work. He says All (knee) is looking like they had hoped in his first practices in nearly two years. He lumped him in a special category with rookie edge Cashius Howell, their first draft pick:
"Really physical. He embraces it. He and Cash just kind of remind me of similar qualities in that way. Kind of the part of the game that they really like and embrace."
- Taylor said they'll have an unscripted period moving the ball down the field:
"This won't be the first practice we've done that … The players don't get a chance to preview the script, so they don't know exactly what's coming. Now they see a wider range. We put it all in. We've talked about it all, but now you just get a call sheet, and it can get called off this call sheet.
"And the good part of it is there's going to be some mental mistakes because we're still early in camp, but it's really good now to see how guys think in the huddle. Now they've got 12 seconds to break the huddle and process 'what my task is,' and so you get a chance to see guys differently that way. Get a chance to move the ball a little bit and offensively try to wear down the defense. It's not a four-play, five-play stint, and then they know they're off the field, and vice versa. The defense tries to knock the offense out in three plays, and start the drive over."
- Taylor is seeing what everybody is seeing from Lawrence in the middle:
"A relentlessness to him. Ted's (Karras) has his hands full, and it's making Ted better. Whatever year Ted's in (11). I think it's certainly a grind for both those guys. They're two smart guys that are doing everything they can to win the rep and help their unit, but he's tough … We ran a counter play that was a really good play the other day, and he just reached around and grabbed Chase Brown.
"And there's nothing I would have told (right guard) Dalton (Risner) to do differently. Dalton did a great job 99% of the time against 99 of 100 tackles. That's going to be a great block. And Dexter just made that play. That's a rare play for a guy to make."
- _No word on how much the starters are going to play in next Friday's preseason opener against the Lions at Paycor Stadium.
