It may be the first and last time you see a Bengal run with a Raven this close to Paycor Stadium.

It happened last weekend at the First Financial Center just up the road when Bengals captain and left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. received the Breakthrough T1D Cincinnatian of the Year award recognizing his work in diagnosing and controlling Type I diabetes.

Among the guests was Ravens Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews, Brown's college chum from their Oklahoma days, who has the disease. Brown's younger brother Justin was diagnosed when he was eight, about 20 years ago.

Yet when Brown announced his $100,000 donation at the gala, he had his father on his mind. Orlando Brown Sr., who earned the nickname "Zeus," for his omnipresence at right tackle for the turn-of-the century Browns and Ravens, died at 40 after going into a diabetic coma.

"Acute ketoacidosis," said Brown after Monday's first spring practice on the field for rookies and first- and second-year players. "People who die from that don't know they have (Type 1). If he had then what's available now, he'd still be alive. Justin would have been able to delay the onset."

Brown has been a relentless advocate of early detection and treatment since he came into the league in 2018, a stretch that has seen huge strides in research. Four years ago, the medication Tzield became available to delay the onset of Stage 3 type 1 diabetes in adults and children eight and older with Stage 2 diabetes.

Brown doesn't have Type 1, but he spreads the gospel of free screening for relatives of people with Type 1. He's done it and so has his six-year-old son.

"The treatment is very expensive," Brown said. "Insulin therapy and the glucose machines. We're looking for ways to make it more affordable."

Brown has brought in plenty of help to the fray. In addition to his donation, family and friends put in about another $100,000 on a night more than $500,000 was raised. Also on hand was Bengals right guard Dalton Risner,

"It's the right thing to do," said Brown, multiple winner of the Bengals NFL Man of the Year.

Knight and Day

After coming off the practice field for the first time in the 2026 season on Monday, second-year linebacker Barrett Carter said it felt like, "Night and day," when compared to last year's first day. The workout was confined to rookies and first- and second year players, but it meant more than that to Carter.

Make that Knight and day. This is one of the reasons the Bengals aren't hurrying to blow out of the starting lineup Carter and the other second-year linebacker, Demetrius Knight Jr.

The Bengals believe they'll be much more comfortable and knowledgeable in the second year of Al Golden’s defense.

"At the end of the day, it's football. But when you start installing plays, it can be a lot for a rookie coming in.

"Communication was at a high level. It was easy to communicate on day one," Carter said. "Everybody was excited and happy. Now the question is, can we continue this communication into December, January, February? Keep stacking every single day leading to the Super Bowl."

Another reason Carter feels like it's day and not night is that the green dot doesn't look like a UFO anymore. They had the green dot (signifying the defensive playcaller) at Clemson, but didn't use it.

"We were a signal-based defense," Carter said. "Now with a year under my belt, I felt super confident compared to this day last year. Night and day."

Slants and Screens

Good Guy Andrei Iosivas comes into his fourth season with a new take on things after training in Atlanta again. He doesn't want to be a bad guy, but …

"Kind of just doing me," the wide receiver said of his offseason regimen. "I'm not giving a (damn) what people think about me or what they say about me. It's more of a mindset. I was trying to be a good dude. I still am, but I don't care what people feel about me anymore." …

His take on the Bengals drafting Georgia wide receiver Colbie Young in the fourth round: "I still have to go in there regardless. He seems like a good player and excited to have him in the room." …

Josh Johnson, who turns 40 on Friday, has seen it all when it comes to NFL offense. Just go back to 2018 during his first stint in Washington, when future Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell was his quarterbacks coach. Last year in Washington, former head man Kliff Kingsbury was his offensive coordinator. In between, 2026 head coaches Mike LaFleur and Todd Monken were his OCs.

He sees something special in Bengals head coach Zac Taylor’s scheme.

"You can tell there are a lot of quarterbacks in the building," Johnson said. "The design of it. The detail. How it's coached. It makes sense. You can visualize what they're saying. You can tell they understand what you're going through. You can see why they score a lot of points around here." …