Player of the Day

DE Shemar Stewart

Tommy Moffitt, Texas A&M's legendary strength and conditioning coach who sculpted LSU's Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase into national champions, has a message for Stewart.

"On Friday, I told him, 'See you Monday,'" Moffitt says. "The least he could have told me was, 'Good-bye."'

Moffitt is laughing, delighted his player is in camp with the Bengals instead of with him. It turns out on Monday, Stewart had quite a second practice in Cincinnati when he tipped back-to-back Jake Browning passes and added a run stop or two while playing three different positions.

"Today was a whole lot better than yesterday," said Stewart of Sunday's debut. "I had some jitters … Today, I knew more what to expect. I knew my assignments better. I could play more freely."

Stewart went right from a five-week stint in Moffitt's weight room to the Bengals practice field and, as A&M teammate and Bengals D-linemate McKinnley Jackson says, "it looks like he's already been here."

Moffitt is a big fan, too. He's extremely impressed that when the Aggies returned to work, Stewart just blended right in.

"He's so humble and down to earth. He's going to get along well with Joe and Ja'Marr because he's just so down to earth and humble," Moffitt says. "He's just one of the guys. He's not a prima donna. You wouldn't have known he was an NFL player. He worked right along beside my team and did a hell of a job and tried to stay in shape. He's just a great human being. Super nice. Very approachable. The community is going to love him."

They already do because he signed a raft of autographs Sunday after that first tough practice. Now they love him for the two tips, too.

"It's funny," Stewart said. "We were just talking about how we hadn't had any tipped passes this camp, and then I get two."

In Moffitt's 30-year context of the game, Stewart, quite simply, "may be the best athlete that I've ever coached," when it comes to his size (6-5, 265 pounds) and speed (they just got him at 20.07 miles per hour).

Moffitt coached five-time Pro Bowler Danielle Hunter, but he says he's not as flexible as Stewart. K'Lavon Chaisson was the 20 ^th pick in Burrow's draft, but not as big as Stewart.

"Shemar is probably the biggest, fastest, most flexible. defensive end-outside linebacker I've coached," Moffitt says. "His speed is the thing that catches your eye. He can really run. He runs like a deer. To see somebody that big run as fast as he is and jump, but he's very flexible … He was real good in the weight room for us. He enjoys it. He likes to do it. He really likes working in the weight room.

"The thing that is so important is his flexibility and his range of motion. Especially for the position that he plays. You've got to be very flexible. To bend and get around the edge, and then change direction and run a guy down. He's just so athletic and so flexible and powerful. He can flat move the weight."

Stewart used his athleticism on the second tip that came off a play-action pass that didn't have anybody blocking him. Since he didn't want to get near Browning, he slowed down and basically walked into the ball with his wing-span of nearly 85 inches.

"There was some technique on the first one," said Stewart who got off a block.

In that base-down drill, he lined up at left end. In red zone, he lined up at right end and inside. For the day, Stewart figures he lined up at three different spots: the nine, five, and three techniques.

"I really enjoyed having him," said Moffett, who was intrigued that Stewart would carry his cleats to practice because he didn't have a locker. "I was happy for him. But I'm sorry he left. Super individual to be around."

Moffitt has handed him off to A&M's Jackson, the massive nose tackle who thinks Stewart is the next big thing. Monday didn't surprise him, either.

"I feel like he's holding back. I know he's got more in the bag," Jackson said. "I think once he can get in here and learn and really let it go, he's really, really going to shock people. I tell him he's a generational talent. Just go."

Stewart didn't want to say too much Monday, so he left with another tip:

"Just trying to get one percent better every day."

PLAY OF THE DAY

TE Mike Gesicki

For the third time in five days the play of the day was the last one, this one a Great Gesicki one-hander from Burrow deep over the middle. It also ended the third-down period and conjured up memories of Gesicki's one-hander on a sail route last season against the Eagles that also came on third down.

It also shows what happens when a dynamic pass catching tight end is running with the NFL triple crown receiving champion. Chase was also in progression, but it was Gesicki manned up on a safety, this time Jordan Battle, and that had to get Burrow salivating.

"That's the matchup you get on third down. I like those," Gesicki said. "I know he had another option with Ja'Marr down low. So I'm sure he peeked at that. I was the high part of the read. It was man, so I still had to win. He put some air under it so I could run underneath it. Just giving me a chance to run away from man coverage. There wasn't a ton of velocity, so it wasn't that hard to snag."

But a one-handed catch is still a one-handed catch.

"I work on it. The Jugs after practice and stuff like that, Gesicki said, "It's natural."

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Bengals running back Chase Brown on his goals:

"I'm always super private about my goals, but I always write them down on my mirror. If you somehow break into my house and go into my master bathroom, you'll see them written on the mirror."

SLANTS AND SCREENS

Brown has broken some big runs the last couple of days, and even though the defense took Monday's energy as they snapped, crackled, and popped on the first day of pads, Brown hit some big-time holes. One of them was off the right side and right up the middle untouched from what looked to be about the 12-yard line.

The Bengals had just moved into the IEL Indoor Facility to flee thunderstorms, and Brown supplied the finishing touch when he threw the ball against the wall.

It looked to be a prime example of the tweaked running game that's going to feature a lot of inside zone runs, fewer outside zones and a healthy diet of double teams. This was a power run, Brown said, which again plays into the 2025 philosophy of more downhill runs in an effort to wipe out negative plays.

"Getting us up to the safety. As a running back with my game, let's do that ten times a game. Then we'll be off to a really good start," Brown said. "I feel like I can make any safety miss in this league. Get me up to the safety and I'll do the rest from there."

If Brown sounds and looks more confident, it's because he is. He returned this offseason to wide receiver specialist Drew Lieberman's Atlanta camp with a different regimen.

"I did a lot of receiver stuff last year, but this year I did a lot of one-on-one and running back stuff. More things that I would do in my game," said Brown, who didn't run as many streaks and posts of last year.

"A lot of what I do is in the box. Tight space. One-on-one. Working a lot of choice angles."

With more confidence comes more decisiveness and Brown loves that.

"I felt like some of my best runs (last year) were, pre-snap, I knew pretty much where I was going to put the ball. I made educated guesses. I feel this year I'm smarter, way more experienced." …

The first day of pads didn't seem all that different than the first four days of camp. That may change when the one-on-one pass rushes get started …

The pass rushers had their best day Monday, making Burrow move out of the pocket more than he had all camp. The biggest oohs and ahs came when defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. penetrated and as Burrow scrambled into the open field, linebacker Logan Wilson came roaring in unabated. Burrow stumbled to the ground as he tried to avoid him …

The defense had an energetic day, fueled by another rotation of cornerbacks. With Cam Taylor-Britt back in the lineup and Dax Hill taking the wraps off to start with the ones in the slot, they moved Josh Newton out of the slot and put him outside. DJ Turner II and DJ Ivey, who were outside with the ones Sunday, were with the twos Monday as they do what they said they were going to do and try all sorts of combos …

Hill got beat on a couple of plays, but he was getting his feet wet. When they return to the field Wednesday, they could back him off and unveil another look ….

Wide receiver Charlie Jones had a good day for the twos. The defense claimed he stepped out of bounds, but he made a nice catch of a Browning deep ball going to the ground before he shook loose down the seam for another big one. Jones, who has battled a sports hernia and had two offseason surgeries, has been telling people it's the best he's felt in his three years here …

Director of operations Jeff Brickner and equipment manager Adam Knollman pulled off a seamless outdoor-to-indoor transition when thunderstorms rolled in after about an hour and forced them to make the three-minute walk to the Indoor for the last hour. Five minutes after practice was halted, it began where it left off …

Ironically, though, Evan McPherson suffered his first miss of camp when they went inside. It was on a 40-yarder. But it didn't stop his big camp. He upped his percentage to 22-for-23 on his longest stroke of a camp, a 54-yarder …