As the Bengals wide receiver room turned Wednesday …
Ja'Marr Chase remained in concussion protocol.
Tee Higgins (abductor) was on the sidelines.
Rookie Colbie Young (knee) practiced in limited fashion for the first time since he got hurt on the first snap of his first NFL start ten days ago in Pittsburgh after a two-yard catch,
And, of all things, the guy making the tackle was Steelers safety Jaquan Brisker, a fellow Lackawanna Junior College product.
"He was there before me, but he texted me prayers,"
Young said after Wednesday's practice. "It's the game we play. It wasn't the worst and I'll definitely bounce back this season."
Now, Young says there's a possibility he'll be back this Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's FOX 19) for a game at, where else? Miami. He transferred from Lackawanna to the University of Miami, where he made a big enough splash to get recruited to Georgia, where the Bengals took him in the fourth round.
"Kind of a full-circle moment to go back there and play," Young said of where he had his break-out moments. "The game was very fast. I knew the guys that I was playing were going to be playing at the next level, so I knew I'd always have to bring my A Game."
Young gave a nod to Bengals fourth-year cornerback DJ Ivey.
"That's where I went against DJ Ivey every day and it made me better," Young said.
Young feared the worst until the X-Rays came back, and then it was just a matter of surprising head coach Zac Taylor with his rapid progress.
"Felt my body and It's been feeling great," Young said.
But it's still a question if its great enough to go on Sunday. No question, though, quarterback Joe Burrow is thinking about Young's 6-4 target.
"We'll see how this week goes with him, but he looked good today, and he's a big, physical guy," Burrow said. "Same archetype as Tee. We don't really know what Sunday's going to look like yet. Could be a lot of guys that haven't had a ton of reps, and it could be guys that have had a ton of reps."
Whether it's Chase and Higgins playing with few reps or Young, Dohnte Meyers, Mitch Tinsley, and their combined 24 career catches playing with most of the practice snaps, Burrow thinks they'll be OK.
"Fortunately, we're in a spot where the guys we're hoping will play Sunday have millions of reps, and they can make sure they're getting their bodies right," Burrow said. "The guys that haven't had a ton of reps will come in and take those practice reps. You get those reps and practice with those guys with still the hope the other guys will play. But if not, we have those reps banked throughout the week.
"We'll know more as we get closer and have some practices and have some more time for those guys to recover, but I feel confident whoever we put out there, we're going to make it work."
Classic Burrow
Burrow spent time after practice not throwing to potential practice squad targets Noah Thomas and Jordan Moore, but to quarterbacks coach Brad Kragtrhorpe.
"Today was just me trying to get better. A couple of other guys stayed after as well, but I was just trying to work on my mechanics today," Burrow said. "I felt like I was just close to figuring something out, so I wanted to get a little more reps of it.
"It's all feel. It's all feel. It's a results-driven business, and how the football comes out is my result."
Joe On The Run
Burrow got a good laugh Wednesday when reminded about Sunday's postgame comment that they should throw it more when they can't run it like they couldn't Sunday and lost, 22-17 to the Jags despite 54 pass attempts. Yes, he agrees, there must be balance.
"I might have been a little emotional after the game," Burrow said with a wide smile. "Obviously, you want to have balance as an offense, and the run game wasn't good enough on Sunday, and I feel confident in myself that you put it in my hands and I'm going to make it work.
"When you get into a game like Sunday, and they're a really good defense, really good front seven and I felt like we were moving the ball pretty well in the pass game. I could have been better in spots to help our guys and not put our defense in bad positions with the turnovers. We've got to be more balanced going forward, and a big part of that is the run game."
After the lowest run game of Burrow's 81 NFL starts with 23 yards last Sunday, the Bengals' emphasis on under-center runs during the spring and summer is sticking. With the Bengals' fifth in passing with the fifth most passing attempts and next-to-last in rushing with the second fewest runs, Burrow says they'll keep trying to pop runs from under center.
Even though much of his college and pro career has been in the shotgun, he says he can do damage under center, too.
"I'm comfortable doing whatever is needed and will execute my best," Burrow said. "We obviously have to be better at it. We're still going to stick with it and keep getting reps invested in that. I think it's very valuable, so we have to be able to do it. But we need to be better.
"Under center play actions are built off the run game. Teams have to respect the run first and foremost so you don't just get jet rushers off the edge. That just puts your offensive linemen in a bad spot when they're trying to sell run but the defense isn't respecting the run and just rushing the passer. That's not a recipe for success, so that starts with the run."
Slants and Screens
Starting safety Bryan Cook (ankle) and backup safety Kyle Duggar (quad) didn't practice Wednesday just like they didn't play last Sunday, when defensive coordinator Al Golden felt first-time starter P.J. Jules and practice-squadder Russ Yeast held up well in a rotation with Jordan Battle. Jules took a career-high 40 snaps and Yeast 21, his most since he took 49 in the Rams' 2023 regular-season finale.
"Given the fact you work up on Wednesday, and it didn't look great for B-Cook and Battle was trending in the right direction, we gave B another two days," Golden said of last week's practices. "He tried Friday and couldn't do it. We decided to split roles as much as we could so they could execute at a higher level. They did. (Safeties coach) Jordan Kovacs did a great job with those guys and they came through for us. " …
Defensive tackle B.J. Hill (Achilles') went full for the first time in this stretch he's missed three straight games ...
Battle (hamstring) went limited ...
Right guard Dalton Risner (knee) who got hurt on the last play of the Steelers game and came back to take every snap last Sunday, went limited ...
So did defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (wrist) surfacing on the injury report ...
Same with linebacker Barrett Carter (ankle) ...
Defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (knee) didn't go Wednesday, which has been by design this season to save him wear and tear ...
Happy Anniversary to Burrow Backup Joe Flacco …
It was a year ago Wednesday that Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin swung the deal with Cleveland for Flacco, and the 40-year-old became an immediate fan favorite. Especially when nine days later he engineered a Thursday night win over the Steelers at Paycor Stadium.
"A year ago today, I was grinding," said Flacco, now 41, of that hectic Wednesday he was getting ready to play the Packers in Green Bay after the Bengals got him a ride down from Cleveland Tuesday night.
"I talked to Zac for about 45 minutes or an hour and then just fell asleep," Flacco said of the ride. "I was tired. We just got back from London."
Practice squad quarterback Josh Johnson, another 40-year-old wily veteran, reminded Flacco that the Dolphins defensive coordinator Burrow faces this Sunday, Sean Duggan, was the Packers linebackers coach last year in Flacco's Bengals debut.
Flacco admits he misses that grind of a starter, but he also says, "It's not the best, it's not the worst." And despite all the quarterback injuries this season, Flacco senses he's here for the rest of the season.
Which is just fine with Burrow, who appreciates the input of Flacco and Johnson.
"(Johnson) and Joe have played for a long time and been through the evolution of a lot of different things in the NFL," Burrow said after Wednesday's practice. "They started out nine-step drops under center. That's something I never did, so when we put in something like that in, the play-actions in, they're a great resource for me to call on when maybe I don't understand the pocket or protection. They've been great." …
More irony? Duggan, 33, is a graduate of Cincinnati's St. Xavier High School …
