Off their tough rookie seasons, linebackers Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter have shown the Bengals a snap-crackle-and-pop confidence in their demeanors, and they teamed up for the rarity of rarities Thursday morning for an interception of quarterback Joe Burrow in a training camp practice.

Knight admitted that he wouldn't have been capable of such a play in the second camp practice last year. "Maybe Day 15, the last day," said Knight, but this is a new year in an old system.

"We're reading the book the second time. The lightbulb is going on."

Carter, the man with the radio helmet, blitzed and Burrow had to get rid of it, so he didn't quite see Knight moving through his reads underneath. Knight was first covering running back Samaje Perine.

"Samaje crossed the formation, so I was looking for another man to come back my way, high or low," Knight said. "(Wide receiver) Ja'Marr (Chase) stayed high,  so I played underneath to get body position.  He just didn't see me there. I was hanging underneath."

But Knight's not gloating. He even fist bumped Burrow after the play and told him he just did what not many do.

"You don't get many chances to get one on No. 9," Knight said. "I'm not going to rest my hat on it because  No. 9 isn't going to rest his hat on it. He's frustrated about it. I'm keeping my distance from him. He'll come back the silent assassin and be ready to avenge what happened today."

Stewart Out 'Several Weeks'

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor confirmed Thursday that defensive end Shemar Stewart dodged a bullet and suffered a hyperextended knee Wednesday on his second snap and is out 'several weeks.' But not the year, which is what everyone feared from videos showing his knee in an unnatural state.

All In

If you think Stewart dodged a bullet, tight end Erick All Jr. hopped over a grenade as he comes back after missing all last year and the last half of his rookie season in 2024.

So Thursday's practice was his second in nearly two years and after the workout  All revealed while he was on vacation in Greece a few weeks ago, he was struck by some kind of three-wheeled moped as he was about to cross a street.

He was thrown, but was able to brace himself and emerged with only a bruise on his face that is no longer there.

"I got back up and I'm feeling, 'I'm (bleeping) ready. I'm ready. It didn't hurt. It gave me the confidence I can come back. I felt like I got stiff-blocked," All said.

All estimates the buggy was going about 10 to 15 miles per hour as it avoided another vehicle. Just right. All figures he's playing against guys moving 20 miles per hour.

"It was huge," All said. "That did a lot of good things for the mental."

And things are All good so far. He's limited, so he gets anxious when they keep him out of special teams, as well as the last team drill and seven-on-seven of the day.

"Dude, I never thought I'd feel this good," All said. "I thought I was going to be sore. I thought my knee was going to be sore. That I was going to be dealing with a little patella tendinitis. Having to get daily knee rubs. But if somebody just came in and hit me with a frying pan and knocked me out and I wasn't to remember anything, I wouldn't even know my leg was an issue."

A Familiar Ring

New Bengals Ring of Honor member James Brooks was a guest at practice Thursday and spent time chatting with running back Chase Brown. The 5-10, 210-pound Brown is about 30 pounds heavier than the 5-10 Brooks, a four-time Pro Bowl back. But the idea is the same. Backs deemed too small who can run it like a back and catch like a receiver.

"He's right there to be an All-Pro. All he has to do is believe in himself," said Brooks, 67, accompanied by wife Angela and son Zach.

Brooks told Brown he should talk to Burrow and tell the quarterback to throw it to him more. They talked about how size isn't the measure of a player.

"Everybody says too small. I'm tired of that crap," Brooks said. "Everything he has been saying I have heard. 'You're a good back, but too small.'  Let me show you first before you judge me. When you judge me, I'm really going to show you what football is all about."

Brooks, who finished in the top five in rushing and receiving among NFL backs during his eight seasons in Cincinnati, was also known as the best blitz pick-up artist the Bengals ever had. He seemed to delight in watching running backs coach Justin Hill work Brown on the blocking sled.

Then Brooks paid Hill a huge compliment.

"He reminds me of Jim Anderson," said Brooks of his coach, the longest-serving assistant in Bengals history with 29 seasons. "Jim used to push me. I said, 'Keep pushing me, Coach. The harder you do, the harder I'll react.'"

Slants and Screens

Yes. All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase said he was trying to set a tone Wednesday when he mixed it up with cornerback DJ Turner II as his own leadership style evolves. If Burrow says he got mean, Chase got feisty.

"Just got to come out and be aggressive. Got to come out. That was the biggest thing every year, coming out and starting off fast," Chase said. "That's got to be our emphasis this year, coming out and coming out with some anger underneath us."

"I play with a lot of feistiness under me. I think me just bringing it to practice, doing it with the guys at practice. I think that's going to help those guys get better because you never know who does that in the game with them, and it might help them  practice a little harder. Might help me practice a little harder. You never know what it does." …

Wide receiver Andrei Iosivas had a big day with several catches, and offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said he's looked good all spring, too. Pitcher took particular note of his releases off the line …

Noah Thomas, the 6-5 rookie free agent wide receiver out of Georgia, caught Chase's eye with the most electric play of Thursday when he grabbed a contested ball leaping with cornerback DJ Ivey. Thomas wrenched an interception from Ivey when he scraped it off his helmet as they hit the ground.

"That's an explosive, and that's what we need. That's another Tee Higgins. We've got somebody else to go there and get a jump ball," Chase said. "I don't really get jump balls like that. Joe usually leads me out in front. But seeing it from the younger guys and seeing what kind of catches they can make, contested catches, that's what we need."

Before that, Thomas made a nice catch on a short route when quarterback Joe Flacco expertly breezed it off the grass …