PLAYER OF THE DAY

QB Joe Burrow

You figure Burrow would come out smoking Thursday in day two of training camp at sultry Paycor Stadium after being smoking mad about how the offense looked Wednesday. You would be right.

"I went to Joe after (Wednesday's) practice, asked him what he thought. I thought we didn't do so well, but I told him don't dwell on it," Chase said. "Because, let Tee (Higgins) make two of those catches, he wouldn't be feeling like that. Also, the offense wasn't really in. Don't get on yourself about something we really didn't put in. We put in a few basic things, but we can always excel throughout the week. As long as we're learning and bouncing back from days like that, I think that's how we improve.

"He's hard and critical on himself. I'm the same way. And I need a person like myself to come to me. That's what Tee does and lets me know it's OK to mess up. But at the end of the day, you still have to push yourself."

On Wednesday, Burrow said if there's one stat he wants to improve this year over last year, it's completions and completion percentage. An odd statement given that his career 68.6% is the NFL's all-time best.

But maybe that's why he and Drew Brees are the only quarterbacks with multiple 70-percent passing seasons.

So on Thursday Burrow hunted for completions and got them. He hit Higgins on a beauty skinny post in stride for a touchdown and muscled in a nifty fade to him on the sidelines. He also jackknifed a perfect back-shoulder throw to wide receiver Jermaine Burton, as well as dropped a dime to Chase just over the outstretched fingertips of linebacker Logan Wilson on an out route. Throw in a bullet to Chase on a there-you-see-it-now-you-don't over route, and that's how he got the highly coveted Bengals.com Player of the Day.

But what makes Burrow Burrow is this interlude during special teams:

Burrow found himself waiting on one knee near the cornerbacks. When slot cornerback Jalen Davis broke away, Burrow approached him and asked about his leverage that caused him to look off his slot receiver.

"Then after that," Davis said, "he told me about another play I could have been better."

PLAY OF THE DAY

WR Ja’Marr Chase

It wasn't the over route or the out route.

"We know who he is," said cornerback DJ Turner II. "He's the Triple Crown winner."

Or, as he crossed the street after practice to go to the locker room, a rock star. As the crowd roared his name, he headed for a section standing behind a barrier and started signing.

That's where Demetrius Jett and his group of children from a Cincinnati after-school program were stationed, and when eight-year-old Darus Holley emerged with a signature on a torn piece of paper, he hollered, "I can't believe it. I can't believe it." Chase signed for five more minutes. As he left for his news conference, Holley was still running around the Central Avenue sidewalk exclaiming, "I can't believe it. I can't believe it."

Chase made it one of those days to believe.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Chase on the defense:

"I think it's going to be better. They look good playing a new style. It's looks like they're having fun out there. We've got new pieces to the puzzle. I think the whole defense is excited to prove they're better than last year and hold themselves to a higher standard."

SLANTS AND SCREENS

Cornerback Dax Hill got his first shot at 7-on-7 Thursday as he comes off the ACL. He took a couple of snaps and one was in the slot …

Edge Myles Murphy went down with what looked to be cramps early as Cam Sample took the bulk of his snaps with the first group …

It only took the second day for the first scrum alert. Backup center Jaxon Kirkland and rookie defensive tackle Howard Cross III got into a brief scuffle as temperatures soared to 89. Cornerback Marco Wilson got cheers from his secondary mates for lining up in a karate stance to ward away any collateral damage …