Bengals safety Bryan Cook called Friday at training camp, "an above-the-neck day," which is why there were no helmets on Day 3 at the Kettering Health Practice Fields during an hour-and-45-minute walkthrough of sorts.

"Xs and Os type of day," Cook said. "Those are the days that are actually more important than the days you actually run around.  Slow things down, kind of  talk things through."

Players of the Day

S Bryan Cook and TE Mike Gesicki

Gesicki, one of the NFL's most dangerous receiving tight ends, says they never had a conversation until on the field Friday. Oh, they had been introduced and had said hello in passing, "but nothing in depth."

Cook, the Bengals' big-money Super Bowl safety signed in the offseason, has been watching Gesicki "for years and I respect his game." So he approached him when they had a break during special teams and asked to talk shop after covering Hall-of-Famer-to-be-Travis Kelce for four years of practice in Kansas City

"Gesicki?" asked Cook, making sure he had the proper pronunciation, and he did. "I wanted to pick his brain on press man. I had years of guarding Travis Kelce, and here's another great receiver with a little different style of play. A lot faster. A little slimmer. More receiver-type deal.

"I wanted to pick his brain on what he sees, what's difficult for him as a tight end. He's got speed. I got some pointers. He's faster than most tight ends. I want to find out what slows him down. That would help me go against slower tight ends. Working my game to get better."

They went to the other field and shadowboxed for about five minutes or so while Gesicki went through some releases off the line of scrimmage and Cook simulated how he would defend them.

"He just came up to me and wanted to walk through some releases and my pre-snap plan, and my mindset. To have that in that setting was cool," Gesicki said. "What I like and dislike, how I see some leverages. He covered Travis in Kansas City, and we talked about that matchup. It was productive."

Gesicki recalled going against Cook in Kansas City in 2024, when Cook was pretty much always in the post and Gesicki worked mainly against the other safety, Justin Reid. In Cincinnati, Cook and safety Jordan Battle can go back and forth.

"Travis is not as fast as Gesicki. He might do little more movement-wise," Cook said. "I know Travis loves off-man coverage. Gesicki would rather press you. That way he works around and gets right into his route. Travis is known for his wiggle. He knows how to move and cut. Two different styles that should help my game."

Gesicki watches tape, so he knows, "B. Cook does good things back there." He also knows what he brings is what the Bengals wanted when they made Cook one of the centerpieces of the defensive overhaul.

"He can do it," Gesicki said. "He's won (two) Super Bowls, and knows the recipe and what it takes. That's part of it."

An X and O day ended with a TY.

"I appreciate him taking the time to spend with me," said Cook from above the neck.

Play of the Day

LB Barrett Carter

Mushroom Right.

Or, "Mushroom Right!!!!"

That's one of the checks Carter made Friday, and the fact he made it so decisively is something he couldn't have done last year as a rookie in a Day 3 walkthrough.

"I was swimming," said Carter, who now seems ready to run in the triathlon of an NFL career.

"I yelled it at the top of my lungs. Instead of maybe last year whispering it, or I was hesitant to say it. This year, if I'm going to say it, I'm going to say it so everybody hears it. That's the difference."

So for Carter, who did wear a helmet, you see why Friday was as mentally taxing as a practice as the man who wears the radio helmet and communicates with defensive coordinator Al Golden before every snap.

"I still attack it like it was any other practice, although we weren't full speed physically. Mentally, still full.  Making all the checks and adjustments. Calling the plays like normal. I didn't treat practice any differently."

Carter and his fellow backer Demetrius Knight Jr., appear to have confidently emerged from last year's intense growing pains.

"Absolutely," Carter said. "Say what you want to say about last year, but it made me so much more confident in myself and my abilities and my brain. Say what you want to say about last season. Obviously, I don't want that to happen again, but going through that made me so much stronger mentally."

Quote of the Day

"We play chess and checkers, but chess is better. It's the kings' game."

-Center Ted Karras on the offensive line's new roundtable in the locker room.

Karras ordered the table online, and it looks like something out of an Old West saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was sitting when he was dealt the "Dead Man's Hand," of aces and eights.

"It's the O-Line table where everyone hangs out a little," Karras said. "I'm so far away from everyone the way our locker room is shaped. I'm trying to talk to guys, and I'm kind of shouting. We have a congregating point now."

Slants and Screens

You've got to love 41-year-old backup quarterback Joe Flacco in his 19^th training camp shooting the breeze with rookie tight end Jack Endries while warming up Friday. Endries, 22, was eight when Flacco was the MVP of the Super Bowl.

"That's really cool. I kind of watched him growing up. I was a fan of the 49ers, and he beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl," said Endries, the Texas product from Danville, Calif. "He's relatively new to the city, too, so we talked about that. What apartments are good, what food he likes out here. It's good to talk to a vet about that stuff. And he's the No. 2 quarterback, and I'm trying to be the rookie the vet can rely on.

"He's very mellow.  I don't think he has a lot of worries on his mind. I think he's out there because he has fun."

Endries is a year removed from having Flacco on his fantasy team and watching him light up the Steelers as he watched with his Texas teammates.

"That's a vivid memory," Endries said.

But then, when he was in high school, Joe Burrow was also on his fantasy team.

"I was catching the ball for Joe (Burrow), giving the ball to Joe Flacco, and he's throwing it (back) down," Endries said. "Surrounded by two legends already right there."

Flacco, of course, shrugged. He's been Burrow's age or older for 12 years, so he's used to it.

"I always tell people that I've been in a locker room with guys that are the same age as all the guys in this locker room my whole life," Flacco said. "So, if anything, it's them adjusting to a 41-year-old as a teammate.  To me, it's normal to be in this environment." …

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is revered in his locker room for many things, and one of them happened Friday when he took the foot off the gas after the first two practices. Taylor is known league-wide for taking care of his players.

Boye Mafe, their new pass rusher, says when he signed in free agency the subject came up.

"That's one of the things we talked about," Mafe said. "That's one of the things he does a great job of. Making sure his team is fresh and later in the season be the best players we can be," Mafe said.

"I think the thing in Cincinnati is they do a great job of taking care of our bodies so we can be fresh. In a day like today, you make sure you lock in and use this day to recover. Then when we get back to it tomorrow, we'll be full speed."

Mafe won a Super Bowl in Seattle and Cook won two in  Kansas City. They had never been pulled back after two days in camp, but they were fine with it.

"Very different," said Cook of his camps with Chiefs coach Andy Reid. "I appreciate it, though. Get my body back together."

In his 19^th camp at age 41, backup quarterback Joe Flacco had to laugh when asked if it was anything like his rookie camp under the demanding John Harbaugh. Still two-a-days in 2008.

"Oh my goodness, please don't transport me back to that," said Flacco, who along with quarterback Josh Johnson are the only Bengals who ever experienced two-a-days. (More lighter practices) are more commonplace now. I think Zac has a bunch of guys on this team that he trusts can get the job done , so it makes it easier."

Exhibit A: Cook and Gesicki …