This has been wide receiver Dohnte Meyers' training camp ever since quarterback Joe Burrow invited him to an early workout at the last minute.
Thursday night's preseason opener at Paycor Stadium belonged to the 5-11, 188-pound Meyers as well when the Canadian Football League import darted for 42 yards on four touches and a made-a-man miss 11-yard punt return in the Bengals' 16-14 victory over the Lions.
"He's been doing what he's been doing," said No. 3 quarterback Josh Johnson after he hit 10 of his last 12 passes 13 years to the week he led the Bengals to a pre-season opening victory in Atlanta.
"He separates vs. man coverage. I actually owe him one."
Meyers officially threw his hat into the ring for a spot in the Bengals' crowded receiver room. It looks like there's a free-for-all for the last two spots between, Meyers, incumbent returner Charlie Jones, and Mitchell Tinsley.
Meyers led the Bengals in receiving with three catches for 29 yards and ran a jet sweep for 13 more in his first pro game out of Canada. The speed of the game on the smaller NFL field was absolutely no factor, and the environment rolled off his back.
"It felt natural," Meyers said of the speed. "I thought the atmosphere was electric. But I was so dialed into the game I didn't really get into that. I felt like it was very competitive. I felt like the offense, and I were productive."
Burrow noticed him even before camp got going. He texted Myers a week before camp asking if he was in town, and if he wanted to join him and a couple of other receivers the next day at 11 a.m. at Paycor. The way Burrow told it after the game, Meyers said, 'I can be.'
"I come to find out he drove from Atlanta that night to be there to throw the next day. That's the kind of guy he is," Burrow said. "He's had a great camp. He's quick, shifty, understands what we're trying to do. He's played a lot in the CFL. He comes over here and hasn't played a lot in the NFL, but he's got a lot of reps under his belt."
At 11, Meyers showed up with All-Pro receiver Ja'Marr Chase and fourth-rounder Colbie Young. He passed that first test, and he seems to keep passing them.
"If Joe Burrow says he wants to work out," Meyers said, "you make it your job to be there."
Burrow On Opener
Burrow sounded less pleased with his own work and the rest of the first offense in their 13 snaps during the first two rainy series of the game. He hit his first five passes, but his last, one, a third-and four at the Lions 38, went awry when his arm was hit from the blindside as he threw, and the Bengals settled for an Evan McPherson 56-yard monster field goal. The first drive was compromised when Burrow appeared to take a coverage sack on second down.
"There are places we can be better," Burrow said. "You get your feet wet. That's football. Obviously, there are places that we can be better."
Head coach Zac Taylor thought his offensive line has held up this summer and did again Thursday.
"I think they've been good. They've been tested every single day from our defensive line," Taylor said. "I think the competition is making everybody better on both sides of the ball."
Of the 13 snaps, seven were from under center as the Bengals look to implement more of it in a bid to bulk up their play-action game. His longest pass, a 16-yarder to Chase over the middle, came from under center off play-action
"We're working to get better in all facets, that certainly being one of them," Burrow said. "We're adding that to our system and see where it can take us."
With the Bears coming to town for Thursday's joint practice, there's speculation Burrow won't play in the remaining two preseason games because he'll get a lot of action in the practice.
"It's different. Any time there's live bullets, there's going to be a lot of benefit from that," Burrow said of games. "Getting a bunch of reps against another team in a practice setting is beneficial too. Those are always difficult because you're not game planning and you're running plays against a system that you probably wouldn't be running in an actual game week."
As usual, he wants to play, per his conversation with defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II.
"Dex and I were talking about that. Once you go through warmups, once you're out there, you get warm, you get into the flow and then you just kind of want to stay out there, keep going," Burrow said. "That's not where we're at, but as a player you want to be out there playing."
D (efense) Day
The Bengals' biggest acquisitions on defense either didn't play (safety Bryan Cook) or hardly played, such as Lawrence and defensive tackle Jonathen Allen, who played three snaps each.
But the first unit got a turnover against t the backup Lions when tight coverage by cornerback D.J. Turner II ended up in the receiver tipping what turned into skyball corralled by safety Jordan Battle. The Lions backups didn't score a touchdown against the Bengals backups until the last 88 seconds of the game. After that, safety Russ Yeast's pick sealed it. When Lawrence and Allen exited, tackle Kris Jenkins Jr., ended up with a sack and five tackles.
"This is the opportunity to get my conditioning up, so I really appreciate getting those extra reps and trying to feel that win and be hungry for more," Jenkins said. "We got a lot of depth, and we have a lot of guys with a lot of talent, a lot of mental prowess that'll help us be better and get better. Guys like Jonathan are teaching us how to refine our craft and how to get better."
Jumping Jack
Jack Endries, the seventh-round tight end from Texas and Cal, has caught the Bengals' eye with his blocking that they feel may be more advanced than advertised. Yet his M.O. are his YAC and hands, and they showed up Thursday when he scored the Bengals' only touchdown on backup quarterback Joe Flacco's four-yard flip on a rollout.
A big celebration ensued with Endries hopping up and down in the middle of it all, and Flacco coming in to make sure he got the ball for him.
"We had a nice moment," said Endries, who makes sure he plays catch every day with Flacco.
After hearing about all the pre-snap motions this camp, the fans saw Endries motion left, then right, and be pretty much wide open.
But the play that puts him in the mix in a hotly competitive tight end room is the 17-yard catch on which he made three defenders miss.
"I was getting ready for this game just watching a lot of Travis Kelce and his yards after catch ability. It's great to watch," said Endries of the NFL's third most prolific tight end ever. "I've been working on getting my legs strong and staying up and not getting tackled."
One of Burrow's main men is tight end Tanner Hudson, so Endries was taken back when Burrow mentioned him in the same breath.
"He's got a great feel for the game, reminds me of Tanner in that way," Burrow said. "The more he sees it, the more he'll be able to create that feel quicker and more efficient."
Endries: "Tanner's a beast. Tanner's a stud. He has a great feel for the game. Being compared to him is pretty good. It's special."
Eye Of The Beholder
Endries was lucky Flacco grabbed the ball because Taylor doesn't hand out game balls for preseason wins, although he did have center Ted Karras teach the new guys the Who-Dey chant.
Rookie edge Cashius Howell seemed to have no desire to find the ball he recovered for the fumble that set up that only touchdown, while Endries walked out clutching his TD ball.
Yeast, on the practice squad all last year, maybe wanted his pick more than most. His dad Craig was a wide receiver for the Bengals at the turn of the century for three years, and he's got a few Bengals game balls of his own.
"I'd play with them, and he'd get mad," Russ Yeast said.
One of them had to be from the last game at Riverfront Stadium when Craig returned a punt for a touchdown in the win over the Browns. Even though this one sealed a preseason win on a throw from a rookie quarterback, Russ covets it. Craig, a high school coach who lives two hours away in Danville, Ky., was in the building Thursday night.
"I'm grateful to him and my entire family for supporting me. It's a blessing to be playing," Russ said.
The pick came with 16 seconds left, and Russ Yeast, who has played in one more NFL game than his dad with 36, had an idea where it was headed.
"I knew they had no timeouts. I was trying to protect a hole shot on the sidelines or a corner route," Yeast said. "I saw No. 2 (receiver) vertical. I was thinking of a possible overthrow. I tried to position myself to make a tackle or play the ball over his head. You have to be ready for anything."
Slants and Screens
Josh Johnson, 13 years after relieving Andy Dalton with 100 yards in that preseason win in Atlanta, settled down Thursday and ended up with 84 yards by hitting 10 of his last 12 passes after missing his first seven.
"I never started 0-for-7," said Johnson, 40 and in his 14th NFL season. "It was just the flow of the game. As a veteran, you're the calming influence and we got it back. We got it rolling. I owe Dohnte one and I owe Chuck (Jones) one."
Johnson hasn't thrown a ball to Jones all camp, so he threw to a spot on a go ball and it was underthrown. He wishes he had held on to a Meyers route instead of going to the next window because he saw Meyers had pulled away from a defender. All in all, though, a professional night from No. 11.
"The (intentional) grounding call, I should have taken a sack," Johnson said of the play at the end of the half. "I don't like to put sacks on (the O-line's) resume. But they wouldn't have gotten the field goal." …
Rookie defensive tackle Landon Robinson split a late sack with first-year edge Antwaun Powell-Ryland and the Navy grad saluted the crowd. Jenkins went with the Macarena, the dance craze from the '90s before he was born.
"Sometimes you just feel like doing the Macarena," Jenkins said. "I like it. It was a spur of the moment. It's probably a one-and-done type of deal, but I'm glad I got to do it." …
