Player of the Day

DT Bobby Gene Hill Jr.

Otherwise known as B.J. Hill, the guts of the Bengals defense.

Hill saw his first action in team drills this season during Thursday's last practice of training camp and gave his defense a lift in a stout scrimmage against quarterback Joe Burrow's high-flying offense.

"It was great to be out there with the guys. It's what I dream about every day," said Hill, who is managing a foot injury. "Moved around pretty good. Made some plays."

Hill, one of the defense's Final Four that played in the Super Bowl (Hill, Trey Hendrickson, Logan Wilson, Jalen Davis), went a step further on that foot when he declared, "We're going to shock a lot of people this year. I think we've got a really great group of guys that is going to go out and put their best foot forward. I think a lot of people are sleeping on us a lot. I think we've got a lot of great players on our defense who each and every day go against one of the best offenses. All we to have to do is go out and prove it on Sundays."

After a tough Monday for the first defense (118 yards and two touchdowns on seven plays in Washington), on Thursday they had one of those throw-downs against Burrow that has them brimming with confidence and dismissing the preseason stats.

"I see it every day. I see it every day. I see it every day. And I see it against a really good offense every day. That's all I need to know," said defensive coordinator Al Golden after Thursday's practice. "Look, I'm like you. I worry about every facet of the defense. If we don't fit a run well, that's a concern. If we didn't tackle well, that's a concern.

"But at the same time, I want to make sure that they know every day the standard is won or lost out here in terms of operating the way we want to operate. I think the guys have made a lot of progress with that."

As counted by Golden, there were about 35 or so snaps in a relentless Move-the-Ball drill where the first defense allowed the first offense just one touchdown. And another came in a red zone drill where from the one-yard line the offense needed a fabulous one-handed catch on the back line of the end zone by wide receiver Charlie Jones on a Burrow bullet.

"What did they play the other day? Eight plays or whatever," Golden said. "I'm excited to go upstairs and look at every situation. It was short yardage. It was low red zone. It was third down. We had a chance to call it.

"Not to give up explosives today … they are fighting their tails off."

They only gave up one touchdown in Move the Ball, a 42-yard Burrow seam ball to wide receiver Isaiah Williams. Hill joined in on a third-and-short stop, and another defensive tackle, Kris Jenkins Jr. helped combine with linebacker Oren Burks for a fourth-and-goal plug.

And first-round pick Shemar Stewart had his obligatory daily stat, this one a batted ball on third-and-eight that he swatted right back to Burrow.

"The next phase for us is that now if you are going to play like that today, we need a fourth-down stop, we need a red-zone stop, we need a takeaway, a batted ball," Golden said. "Any one of those plays can change the game, but we just have to be patient and everybody do their job every play and play with energy and have fun, and I sensed that out there today. I sensed the guys were really having fun playing and competing against a really good offense."

Count safety Jordan Battle as one of those.

"Like Coach always says, we get a chance to unleash on the offense when we come out of a preseason game because we stick to the basics in a preseason game," Battle said. "We use all the weapons in practice. The whole playbook."

Battle said they didn't so much empty out the blitz library, but worked on different games and looks up front. He dropped a "Bobby'" when it came to listing the players that stood out to him.

"Bobby being back. Bobby gave us a lift in the run game," Battle said of Hill. "Even with just his energy and motivation. Just him being out there is big for us. We love having him out there."

Golden knows exactly what Battle is saying.

"(Hill is) kind of the conscience, if you will, of the defense. He has a great pulse of who we are and what we're doing," Golden said. "He brings great spirit to the meeting room and to the locker room."

Hill, 30, heading into his eighth NFL season and fifth with the Bengals, is one of these guys who acts and performs like he wears a "C," on his chest even if there's not. Don't be surprised if he'll get one before the opener. It's a big reason why they signed him up for another three-year run back in March. Even when he wasn't practicing, he was doing things captains do.

"Just challenging the guys each and every day," Hill said. "Make sure I'm there no matter what. Try to be somewhat of a coach. If they need help, I'm there."

He wasn't out there Monday night, but he pitched in for repairs and was pleased with Thursday's rebound.

"The way we practiced today, we bounced back just fine," Hill said. "We fixed it during the game and we fixed it in practice today. We're headed the right way."

PLAY OF THE DAY

WR CHARLIE JONES

If anybody came up with an all-Camp team, Jones would have been a unanimous choice and he went out in style in camp's last practice with a Dave-Lapham-You've-Got-To-Be-Kidding-Me one-arm grab of a Burrow tracer for a one-yard touchdown.

For the second time in 72 hours, Burrow hit Jones with a precision touchdown pass placed where only the receiver could catch it. Burrow drilled it up and through three defenders against the Commanders Monday night. On Thursday afternoon, after seeing Jones blanketed by cornerback Josh Newton on the back line of the end zone, Burrow let loose with a screamer. Jones lunged slightly off the turf and pulled it in with one arm even as he hit the deck.

"He really had as good as defense as you get on that play. And Joe threw it in the only spot I could literally go after it," Jones said. "I turned around and the ball was there. I only had time to get one hand up. He put it right on there. I'd like to see a little speedometer on that and see how fast he was."

For a man who led the country three years ago at Purdue with 110 catches, Jones had to admit this one that didn't count is one of his tops.

The one-hander? No accident. Every off day last season, when Jones and tight end Mike Gesicki met in the gym, one of their drills involved throwing to each other and the receiver had to catch it with one hand.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Bengals rookie DE Shemar Stewart on tipping Joe Burrow's third-and-eight pass:

"I tip it and Joe catches it and almost runs for a damn first down. He looks way faster in person. I told him that. He was moving. I looked back at the place where the ball went, and I just saw him skedaddling."

SLANTS AND SCREENS

Rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr., didn't practice Thursday, but it doesn't seem to be serious the way Golden was talking about No. 44. Golden has a good reference point. During his first year as Bengals linebackers coach in 2020, the Bengals took Logan Wilson in the third round. Now there is Knight, a second-rounder, and another rookie, No. 49, Barrett Carter, a fourth-rounder, in Golden's first year as DC.

"I think he's had a great camp. I wouldn't trade 44 or 49 for anybody in the draft," Golden said. "I think both those guys are they're learning. They're growing. We're putting a lot on them, obviously. But again, I keep reminding those guys of what Logan was like as a rookie, in terms of just the learning curve and trying to expedite that, and that's what we're doing right now. But both of those guys (have) physical gifts. Love the game and prepare like crazy every day." …

With right guard Lucas Patrick out day-to-day and Cordell Volson (shoulder) out for the year, rookie Jalen Rivers was at right guard and another rookie, Dylan Fairchild, was at left guard and gave as good as they got Thursday. These guys are Pro Football Focus favorites. Rivers had the Bengals' best run-blocking grades from Monday night and Fairchild is currently PFF's highest-graded rookie offensive lineman ...

Wide receiver Jermaine Burton returned to practice Thursday for the first time since getting dinged in the preseason opener. He scored a touchdown in red-zone action for the Twos when quarterback Jake Browning hit him over the middle for a leaping catch. When safety Daijahn Anthony went for the interception, there was no one behind him. …

Safety Geno Stone also worked for the first time in team since that game in Philly, but don't expect hm to play in Saturday's preseason finale (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's FOX 19) at Paycor Stadium against the Colts …

In fact, no Opening Day starter or regular is expected to play, except kicker Evan McPherson, punter Ryan Rehkow and one of the two long snappers. If you're curious about who makes the club on the big Aug. 26 cutdown, not playing Saturday could be a better sign than playing …

Golden doesn't want to give anything away about what he's going to look like in the Sept. 7 opener in Cleveland. If a vanilla defense caused a problem for two games that don't count, he'll take it.

"If there's anybody to blame in that situation, it's me, because they're very static looks and very easy for the offensive scheme," Golden said. "And that's a choice that I made. I've got to live with that. And right now, the guys are focused on getting better each day, learning our system and then obviously transitioning to Cleveland here pretty quickly." …