Bengals left tackle and captain Orlando Brown Jr., seeking to enhance both roles, is having one of those offseasons where coaches raise their eyebrows.

The numbers of Joey Boese, the team's chief of performance and the steward of Brown's offseasons, say Brown is stronger and in better shape even as he stands just a couple of weeks shy of his 30^th birthday.

"I'm much stronger. Just focusing on intensity when I'm in here," says Brown after another Paycor Stadium workout. "I'm training the mind more so than the body to be able to battle. I think a lot of my numbers have naturally gone up."

The Bengals' offseason program begins Monday, but, as he has for the past three offseasons, Brown has been a constant presence in the building since February. Even taking the stairs to negotiate his own two-year, $32 million extension.

The offseason has been a moneymaker for him ever since Chiefs coach Andy Reid had a heart-to-heart with him, and he can thank old friend Trey Hendrickson and the Bengals for that.

Hendrickson had just taken it to Brown in the AFC title game of four years ago. Brown, coming off his fourth Pro Bowl, saw his Chiefs lose in overtime to the Bengals as Hendrickson beat him for a sack-and-a-half.

"I sat down with Coach Reid after my first year in Kansas City, and he told me I had never really had an offseason. And I totally agreed," Brown says. "There were times in that AFC Championship we lost where I was tired. Trey was in better shape. I told myself l never wanted to get that feeling again.

"I never wanted to get in that situation again and not allow my coaches or my teammates to be able to depend on me."

Brown has found his comfort zone in Boese's gym, where two years ago he launched his best season since his Pro Bowl days before he broke his fibula in two places. It had been surmised if Brown's offseason training had not been so good, he would have blown his knee out. Instead, he missed six weeks before he came back for 2024's last two do-or-die games and played a total of 164 snaps.

"A few times last year I wasn't maybe all the way myself as far as consistency," says Brown, who overcame a slow start in 2025. "I found my groove in November through the rest of the season. There was a spurt I could point to in the last five games and say that has to be the best football I've played as a Bengal. I've always been a guy better in November and December than September and October.

"My biggest focus going into this season is to be physically and mentally in a good spot."

Pro Football Focus charged Brown with seven sacks in last season's first 10 games. While no NFL tackle had more pass blocks and more one-on-one pass blocks than Brown last season, PFF says he allowed just two sacks and five hits in the last seven games.

It's not lost on him that one of those sacks was Browns edge Myles Garrett's record 23rd sack. On a day right outside his door at Paycor, Brown pretty much went toe-to-toe with a first-ballot Hall of Famer on 40 pass reps and allowed a sack and a hit, via PFF. Consider the previous seven games, when Garrett had 12 sacks and nine hits.

But the record replay has been run and run this offseason, and it seems like Brown has seen every one of them where Garrett gets by. Such is the life of an offensive lineman.

"It's right there in front of my mind. It was one of our last pass-pro snaps of the year," Brown says. "It's always fresh in my mind and probably will be the rest of my life. Absolutely, I use it as motivation. That's O-line play. To me, it's all about consistency. Just being as clean as possible for a full 60 minutes."

Already regarded a locker-room leader, Brown says he'll expand that role this season. He sees himself talking more to the team as a group.

"It's important that every team has that kind of guy," Brown says. "I feel like I've taken on that responsibility since I've been here. Now to take it to the next level and being more vocal than I already have been. Doing it even more would carry more weight."

It seems like these days, the bigger the weight, he can lift it. Keep the one-on-ones coming, he says.

"Taking the approach we would take on a Sunday," Brown says after another Paycor lift. "I love what I do."

Slants and Screens

The Bengals held their local day at Paycor Tuesday morning for draft prospects who played their college and/or high school ball in the Greater Cincinnati area ...

Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding had his long-snapper, John Ferlmann, for the workout ...

Illinois defensive tackle James Thompson Jr. out of Roger Bacon High School looked to be one of the strongest of the lot as a possible day three pick even though he didn't get invited to the NFL scouting combine. He had a solid pro day in Champaign and has shown athleticism with a 9-2 broad jump and strength with 36 reps on the bench ...

The sons of two former Bengals, Alabama-Birmingham quarterback Jalen Kitna and Louisiana Tech wide receiver Rodney Heath Jr., took part in the day. Quarterback Jon Kitna started 46 games between Jeff Blake and Carson Palmer and Heath started 18 games on the corner for the last Bengals team in Riverfront and the first one at Paycor ...