The last time a Bengals punter won AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, Kevin Huber helped the 2013 AFC North champ Bengals win a big one on the road in San Diego to open the month of December when he pumped three of his four punts inside the 20 to average a whopping 55.5 yards net because dangerous Chargers rookie returner Keenan Allen didn't get a yard.
Ryan Rehow did all that Sunday in Baltimore while helping the Bengals to a massive road win with no return yards. But he went a foot longer when he drilled all four punts inside the Ravens 12. Here's a guy who had eight touchbacks after six games last year and has none now with the second-best inside-the-20 percentage in the league.
"We worked on it in the offseason and there's not one thing," said Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons after Wednesday's practice. "More control, better feel. Knowing the situation and what's required."
In his third season, Rehkow is no stranger to success, but consistency has eluded him. He broke an NFL record in his debut during the 2024 opener when his 64.5 average set the record for at least four punts in a game, one of them a Bengals-record 80 yards. Last year, he was third in the league with a 50.5-yard average. He owns the Bengals' single-season records for gross and net punting.
But Rehkow knew what he had to work on in the offseason. Simmons looked at the punts coming from the vicinity of the Bengals 40 and went to work. Rehkow says there were some mechanical tweaks but not much.
He chalks it up to reps.
"The gray area we call it," Rehkow said Wednesday of the other 40. "It's one of the more touchy ones. A little in between. Not really mechanically. You can manipulate the ball in certain ways. For me, it's just trusting the touch. Up until this year, I had not prepared well enough in that area of the field. This offseason was definitely an emphasis."
Rehkow did the deed Sunday from his own 49, 38, 46 and 46. Two went to the 6. One to the 3. The other went to the 12. Two fair catches. One downed by cornerback Josh Newton and the other by linebacker Jack Kiser in his Bengals debut.
"Sometimes the returner has to help you. Sometimes you need a lucky bounce," Rehkow said. "You just need a feel that putting it around the 10 or the 8, and it's OK if it bounces. Maybe we have a chance to down it, or if there's a fair catch, that's good to. You can't worry about getting it on the 2 or the 3."
For Simmons, it's a journey that is on track to elite.
"What separates the good ones from the great ones," Simmins said, "is your bad hits are C hits and not D and F hits. He's getting closer."
Ja'Marr Power
Ja'Marr Chase, off the biggest 62-yard game of his life that was amplified by his halftime speech, didn't practice Wednesday with an ankle issue that was designated on the injury report as NIR-Rest/Ankle, suggesting all he needs is rest. It doesn't seem to have the folks at Paycor Stadium concerned about his status for this Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Local 12) against the Titans.
A couple of Bengals captains approvingly weighed in on Chase's "We've got to pick up our Bleep," halftime speech in Baltimore. Safety Bryan Cook has two Super Bowl rings as a Chief, and heard some Patrick Mahomes' halftime orations.
"Different guys. Different situation. It's great to see a leader back it up as well," Cook said after Wednesday's practice. "I was talking to the defensive side. 'We've got to get off the field on third down.' He addressed the whole team, I was more like on the defensive side saying we've got to give the ball to JB (Joe Burrow). Then he came over and he's saying, 'You get one more stop, we got y'all.' It was perfect timing. Definitely needed at the time. We came out fired up, shout out to him for that.
"He meant what he said, and he had passion behind it."
Burrow knows Chase as well as anyone.
"I think you know Ja'Marr's captain for a reason, and he walks the walk. He doesn't talk often, but when he does, obviously guys listen," Burrow said at his weekly newser. "And I think that was a perfect moment for it. Obviously, when Ja'Marr speaks, it has a lot of impact, and that one certainly did."
Don't expect Burrow to go into a halftime looking to unleash an emotional firepit like Chase did.
"I try not to. As a quarterback, at least for me personally, I play worse football when my emotions are at a higher level," Burrow said. "So I try to be even-keeled through the chaos. I've certainly done it before. It's not what I want to do. I can get my level back down to homeostasis, but I prefer to just keep it there."
Cashius Cashes
Bengals rookie edge Cashius Howell couldn't really celebrate that first career sack in Sunday's game when he made a shoestring tackle just as Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley tried to shovel it away.
Along with a blitz from safety Jordan Battle, Howell's unblocked dash from the Bengals' right side of the line flushed Huntley to the other side.
"He pulled away at the last second. Once I saw the ref do the littler indicator (that Huntley was down) I knew it," Howell said after practice. "It doesn't really hit as hard just because he was a full slide away. It's not like I did anything spectacular. I just ran."
And that's the beauty of Howell. He runs all the time. That sack is quintessential Howell. He never stops. If he has to dive and stretch, which he did, he will. He did.
"Hustle and motor, baby," Howell said. "Hustle and motor."
He is still seeking his first NFL textbook sack.
"I'm trying to get that real true pass set," Howell said, "Beat my man and go wrap him up for the sack. I'm still waiting on that one."
Maybe he'll come up with a celebration because there was none Sunday.
"I will still trying to see if it was a sack," Howell said. "Then I just dapped up some of my teammates."
Slants and Screens
Edge Shemar Stewart, last year's first-round draft pick, isn't going anywhere.
He was inactive last week, but coaches like defensive coordinator Al Golden and head coach Zac Taylor believe he's progressing well in practice. After missing all of training camp with a knee injury, Stewart has got plenty of guys in front of him on an 11-man defensive line who have more reps.
And Taylor's inactive list Sunday got jammed with the loss of tight end Tanner Hudson and rookie wide receiver Colbie Young healthy enough to play.
"I'm not discouraged at all in Shemar. I'm really not," said Golden before practice. "I was really hoping to see him take a big jump last week, and I have the same hope as I sit here today. We just worked him in the walkthrough. We'll continue to do that this afternoon in practice, and I'm looking for that moment when we don't turn back. I'm disappointed for him. This has been a hard start. I said that to you guys last week. It's been difficult. He's been really positive. He continues to get better, and when it's his turn, the important thing is that he doesn't leave the field again." …
Battle (hamstring) was limited …
So was linebacker Joe Giles-Harris (calf) …
Vet defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, off his monster game in Baltimore, rested …
Taylor ruled out backup safety Kyle Dugger (quad) for the Titans, but not for next week …
