The Bengals ended a pitch-perfect offseason and started the preseason in the same kind of weather Wednesday morning when a robust and buzzing crowd greeted them at the first practice of training camp.

Besides the Big Three of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, the biggest greeting was reserved for their biggest acquisition of the offseason.

"It meant a lot," said three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II. "They believe in me, and I believe in myself just as much. My whole goal is to prove myself and make the fans happy. It's good excitement. It's about keeping excited, and that's up to me."

Burrow certainly noticed as he looked across his first team drills and saw three new defensive linemen in the 6-4, 340-pound Lawrence, the 6-3, 300-pound Jonathan Allen in the middle, and 6-4, 255-pound Boye Mafe on the edge.

"(The) Size difference from last year is the most glaring (difference). The pocket was a little different today. Tough to tell when you don't have pads, but I'm excited to see what those guys can do," Burrow said.

"The biggest thing (is) when you have the D-Line that we have now, you just have to get it out faster. You have to anticipate those windows. Usually, you want to maybe take another second and see that window. There were a couple throws today that I couldn't see the guy I was throwing to, and I had to trust my eyes and trust my feet and throw it in a spot just because there was somebody in my face or around my feet, and that'll make me better."

Stewart Carted Off

Training camp wasn't an hour old when the Bengals suffered an injury. On his second snap in team drills with the second defense, second-year defensive end Shemar Stewart appeared to suffer a knee hyperextension on a pass rush and was taken for a scan.

Stewart, last year's first-rounder, missed nine games last season with injuries after holding out much of training camp.

"That was tough. Great dude He's been working really hard this offseason," Lawrence said. "Just to improve himself. That was the most important thing for him. Hopefully he'll be OK."

Early Scrum

It also didn't take long for the first fight to break out. Usually, that's reserved for when the pads are on for a few days. The pads go on here Monday, but Chase and cornerback DJ Turner II wasted no time mixing it up after the first 11on-11 of camp as they headed into 7-on-7.

Turner's helmet ended up rolling on the ground as Chase and Turner got into it and were pulled apart. Turner blew it off after the session as camp will be camp, but it does show that he doesn't mind standing up for his unit and being a leader.

"Got to. Just like he was," Turner said. "Brothers fight all the time. Nothing else to it. It happens. He's one of the best, I'm one of the best. It's fun. That's competitive."

On the ensuing first two snaps of 7-on-7, Burrow went for two completions on out routes covered by Turner. The first went to WR Tee Higgins on the right side, the second to Chase on the left side, and both had to be drilled perfectly because Turner was all over them.

Burrow couldn't hide a smile when asked if going to Turner's side was intentional.

"I guess you'll never know," Burrow said.

Slants and Screens

Backup cornerback Josh Newton appeared to have a solid day and delivered an alert turnover when he poked the ball out of the hands of running back Gary Brightwell late in a snap because he kept playing. The ball popped into the hands of safety PJ Jules …

Turner is in a contract year after last year's break-out season put him in the elite. After practice,  he said he wasn't talking about contract talks but did note that the Browns' Denzel Ward just got $62.2 million for two years: "He's a top corner. Makes sense." …