Player of the Day

DE Boye Mafe

There are those at Paycor Stadium who believe the pass Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had intercepted in one of Saturday's team sessions at training camp wouldn't have been tried in a game.

Since Burrow is known for tinkering, some thought when he bootlegged to his right and saw Mafe bearing down from the edge, he just wanted to see what would happen when he tried to throw it through Mafe's arms.

It never reached tight end Drew Sample in the flat and ended up in the arms of diving slot cornerback Jalen Davis. But then, if Burrow is tinkering, so is Mafe, the $60 million Super Bowl pass rusher the Bengals nabbed in free agency who seems to be paying immediate dividends.

On Saturday, he got pressure on Burrow in a variety of ways during an active day. A bull rush. Getting to the perimeter on that bootleg to harass Burrow off play-action.

And the guys blocking him are noticing. Mafe is apparently playing at one speed, and he's not slowing down in walkthroughs.

"Mafe's an exciting player," said tight end Erick All Jr.  "In the walkthroughs, as a coach, I would love to see that. A guy flying around who loves the game. He's not going to regret anything. I want those guys on my team. He's yapping. He's real strong. He looks fast."

As Mafe stalked Burrow, a coaching point clicked in his helmet.

"When I get in that situation, mirror the throwing hand," Mafe said. "The other day I got close to Joe, but didn't mirror the throwing hand. Today I had an emphasis to make sure I did."

But he may not, the next time.

"One thing about me, I'm out there working trying to crack my craft," Mafe said. "Camp is where you fine-tune your craft. You work all summer on different moves, different ways to elevate your game. See what works, see what doesn't work, see what you can take into the season."

Since coming over from Seattle in the Bengals' first wave of overhauling the defense in March, Mafe says he feels welcomed by everyone around the building, particularly his defense and linemates.

"I feel like we're on a mission," Mafe said. "We're learning the defense together, how to rush the passer together."

As if on cue, a few minutes later, Mafe, still in his uniform, was at the locker of de facto defensive captain and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II. Mafe says he and Lawrence, the offseason acquisition that sealed the renovation when he brought his three Pro Bowls, were "talking shop."

"Just think about it," said Lawrence of his advice during this stage of the season. "Just trying to create that extra edge. It's just experience and reps. Knowing how guys are going to play me and help the guys around me be effective …  Instead of a no-pressure, we could have got a pressure doing little things ... Just keep growing."

Footnote: As Mafe and Lawrence chatted, center Ted Karras compared this defense to the NFL's top-ranked scoring defense he saw every day as a rookie in New England during 2016 when the Patriots stole the Super Bowl from the Falcons.

But those Pats had nobody like Lawrence on their defensive front. No Pro Bowlers. Unless you count hybrid backer Kyle Van Noy and his one Pro Bowl.

Play of the Day

CB Jalen Davis

Ja’Sir Taylor split some snaps in the first-team slot with Davis Saturday, but that didn't stop him from being one of the first guys to mob him charging off the sideline after Davis picked off Burrow in the flat.

"One of my best relationships here," said Taylor, another new pickup after four years in the league that began when the Chargers took him in the sixth round. "We don't look at it like that. Everyone in the room is competing. We try to make each other better and elevate the room."

Taylor, 27, says he'll be sure to pick Davis' brain on how he made that pick.

"He fit the run. It was play-action, he got back to the flat, and then he made an amazing interception," Taylor said.

Taylor actually has more experience than Davis, 30, with more than 1,100 career snaps. He knows Davis' story, he of the 20-plus transactions since he came into the league in 2018. From the practice squad to the roster back to the practice squad and then last year's break-out year at age 29 on 270 snaps, nearly half his career total.

"Resilient," Taylor said. "Honestly, people have different paths, and his is very interesting and long. I don't understand why he wasn't playing sooner. Great player, great guy to have in the room. Brings great energy. We love him."

Before Davis made his pick, it looked like Taylor would beat him to the punch. He had an easy one on one of the first plays of team. Somehow, Burrow underthrew it in the middle of the field, right to Taylor, but he couldn't hang on.

"It was almost too good to be true," Taylor said. "I'd like to have that one back."

Davis certainly isn't giving anything away in his sixth Bengals training camp, his first as a starter and not on the bubble. He's trying to keep it that way. After all, he has picked Burrow before in this setting.

"I always have good camps," Davis said.

Quote of the Day

"You're always ready for pads."

-Dexter Lawrence II on Monday's first day in pads.

Certainly All is. Here's a guy who was walking around the locker room in March saying, "I can't wait to hit somebody."

The wait is over.

All hasn't hit anybody since November of 2024, his rookie year, when he suffered an ACL tear. He also says he's got plenty of company.

"I think there are a lot of guys that are ready to bring their stuff," All said. "Myles Murphy, from my rookie year to now, that guy is going to bring it." He counts Mafe in there, as well as rookie Cashius Howell. (Note these are all edge guys All has to block.)

"Cash is one of them," All said. "He kind of caught me off guard today on a duo block. He's going to be good. A lot of people are worried about his size, but he brings it."

So does Jonathan Allen, the veteran two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle. All has been extremely impressed with how hard such an accomplished player goes after it. All was miffed Saturday that Allen played through a whistle to finish him off on a tackle, but he realized Allen probably was also ticked at him for lowering his shoulder on the screen.

But he says they cleared it up.

"I came up to him and said, 'Let's keep doing that all year long,'" All said. "He's all for it. He loves the game. You can see it when he's out there."