PLAY OF THE DAY

CB Josh "Fig" Newton

An upbeat hum has vibrated through the Bengals' early portion of training camp.

Super Bowl winner Ted Karras observed a few days ago, "We're a good team. We're going back and forth out there." One club insider offered it's the best Bengals' team he's seen in the decade since they became the first AFC North team ever to start 8-0 in 2015. Newton, who has lined up in more spots this camp than Bengals president Mike Brown's golf cart, threw up again before he logged Joe Burrow’s first interception of camp as this secondary literally plays its guts out.

And after Wednesday's practice, Burrow added the cherry on top when he said it's the best he's spun the ball in years while emboldened by his deepest wide receiver room in his six NFL seasons, a defense that has brought a challenge he hasn't felt in some time and a locker room where he loves the morale.

"You can feel an energy in here that I'm not sure we've felt in a while," Burrow said.

It could be, he says, a special year.

He started with, literally, the biggest add of the offseason in massive Green Bay nose tackle T.J. Slaton.

"T.J. Slaton is going to be a great player for us. Energy. He brings the physicality, and I'm really excited to watch that on Sunday," Burrow said. "And then the games, the stunts, the things that they're doing on the defensive side of the ball to create pressure is something that I've gone against for the last several years, and I know how hard that is to deal with from a quarterbacking perspective, and they're doing it at a high level. That's exciting to see, too. So then when we roll 91 back out there, I think it's got a chance to be a special year."

No. 91, of course, is Trey Hendrickson, the defending NFL sack champion. While he has yet to roll out to practice as he continues to look for a contract extension, his presence in meetings and on the field added to the optimistic swirl when he showed up for camp for the first time Wednesday.

"Whenever you can have a guy like that in the building, even if he's not going, to see his face. Good to have his presence," Burrow said. "He's going to play a big, big part of this team this year. And so just to have him around makes a big difference in energy around here.

"He brings an intensity that is very unique, and so I think that's good for us. This is the guy that has the most sacks over the last two years. Production has value in this league. You can think you're such a good player, but not have any production, it doesn't really matter."

Burrow sees value in Newton's secondary. A second-year player, Newton is shining both in the slot and at outside cornerback for a unit that hasn't stopped chirping at the NFL's best band of wide receivers. And covering them.

"The young DBS are really stepping up and making things tough," Burrow said. "Their energy, physicality, knowledge of their coverages, I think, has been top level. We need that energy from them. That's our defense building off of that energy. Great defense isn't necessarily always played with the mind. A lot of times it's energy, emotion, physicality.

"They seem very confident in what they're doing. They're not having a ton of mental errors, either, on that side of the ball. And, with a new defense, a complicated defense, the DBs are understanding the nuances of the coverage really well, understanding where their help is, where their help isn't playing. Their leverage is really sound."

Cornerbacks coach Charles Burks and defensive coordinator Al Goden are rolling the cornerbacks through all kinds of combos, and nobody is getting complacent. The first team drill on Wednesday started with Newton on the outside, Dax Hill in the slot and DJ Ivey on the other side. They also rolled through with the ones Cam Taylor-Britt, protecting his soreness, and DJ Turner II.

But the constant seems to be Newton, inside or out.

"Having a phenomenal camp," said Burks, who also thought Hill and Taylor-Britt had outstanding moments on Wednesday.

Newton got Burrow in 7-on-7, a drill where on Wednesday Burrow revealed he doesn't worry about interceptions, unless he has a bad read or a bad throw.

"This year, I'm treating (team periods) like a game," Burrow said. "Finding check downs, getting it out quick, trying to get game speed ready."

Not so 7-on-7. That's tinkering and education. Burrow had a tough throw in the red zone with the defense in a zone with matching principles. Newton noticed how well rookie linebacker Barrett Carter (vet Logan Wilson appeared to get a rest day as he comes off offseason knee surgery) played it and stayed to the inside.

"(Carter) was in the low zone and he's been impressive to me. Whoever taught him at Clemson was good," Newton said. "He's confident in his calls. He's loud. That gives me trust in him."

When wide receiver Tee Higgins reached a certain patch of grass in this matchup zone, Newton turned it into man-to-man, and when Burrow tried to fit it over Carter, Newton had the position.

A pick of one of the best quarterbacks in the game?

"He's coming back," Newton said.

As for the vomiting, Newton writes off most of it to just plain intensity and 91 degrees.

"I'm doing my hydration. I'm doing everything right on my end," Newton said. "I'm just a high burner. Emotion is high. Bullets are flying. It's camp. Just let it out."

PLAYER OF THE DAY

WR Andrei Iosivas

Remember back in the spring when Iosivas said he wanted to put on about 15 pounds and play at around 220 in an effort to get more yards after catch and be more physical while staying 4.3 fast?

On Wednesday, it sure looked like the mission had been accomplished. Iosivas had a few big catches down the field at a cat-like 218 pounds, including a whopper of a one-hander down the seam in the move-the-ball drill that finished practice.

Here, Newton and Iosivas dueled ("Everyone sees the work he puts in. I think he's going to be a great leader for us," Iosivas said), as Iosivas pressed him outside, rode his shoulder, and then bent the route across the middle.

"Everybody says, 'Oh the pads are on,' but for me, when the pads come on, I like it because I can really go through you and put my helmet in your shoulder and not hurt you," said Iosivas, who fought off Newton while stretching a hand out as safety Jordan Battle loomed.

"It was a really physical route by him making a good play down the field," Burrow said.

It's just the kind of play Iosivas envisions to get more yards even if he catches the same 36 balls from last year. He had 479 yards, and he's hoping to add 250 of YAC this season.

"Jordan Battle’s not catching me. That's a touchdown. The crowd would go wild on that one, for sure" said Iosivas of a play that would have been about 40 yards after the catch. "I haven't got the targets this camp with Ja'Marr and Tee, but it's about optimizing the chances I do get."

Burrow's big targets are NFL Triple Crown receiver Ja’Marr Chase and the 10-touchdown man Higgins, but he loves the depth here as Charlie Jones and Jermaine Burton have played well behind the No. 3 Iosivas. The room, he says, is as deep as it's ever been.

"I think the biggest step that (Iosivas) made is making contested catches," Burrow said. "The contested catches when he first came here were not his strong suit, and he's turned it into a strength of his game."

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Burrow on his approach in the preseason games that start next Thursday in Philadelphia:

"Play it like a game … I'm going to go out and treat it like a game. Try to get that rhythm."

SLANTS AND SCREENS

Hendrickson smiled when he saw an old tape recorder Wednesday, and when he started showing what he was saying to first-round pick Shemar Stewart on the field with some technique, he stopped and politely excused himself so he could get to a meeting.

No distractions is what he wants. He said nothing has changed in his contract talks, but it appears he'll be back here attending meetings and practice. He remembers his rookie year of 2017 in New Orleans with old pros Cam Jordan and Demario Davis.

"Cam Jordan was so valuable to me when I was maturing in the NFL. And I feel like (Stewart) is in that state. If I can help him in any way, that's my goal for being here," Hendrickson said. "The plan was, be here day one. Things transpired. News happened to me and we just kind of make decisions as we go. There's no blueprint on what to do, how to do it. We're just going to stand true to what Team Hendrickson means to us and moving forward from there."

"Punishing the young players and not being a part of their development would be a selfish act. To come back, it was never the plan to leave. Being here for those guys is something I look forward to."

He says he and the club have a common goal. Get a new deal so he doesn't play on the current one …

Rookie left guard Dylan Fairchild is drawing raves from anyone you ask, particularly O-line coach Scott Peters. Peters, former player, MMA guru, and all-around strong man, said after the Bengals drafted him that Fairchild is the prospect he moved the least in all his years when he put hands on him.

Fairchild showed that and more in Wednesday's first pass rush one-on-ones of camp when he had solid reps against Slaton and McKinnley Jackson.

"Really impressed with the guy. Great demeanor," said Peters, insisting they won't ease him into the starting job.

"If you're going to be in there with the ones, you better be up to par. So we've got to just expedite that growth. Obvious, but it's brand new for him. I think we've done a good job pushing him and he's pushing himself."

Maybe even more importantly, the man he's protecting, No. 9, is all in because he says the man is there mentally.

"Great with the cadence. Usually, that's the Achilles heel of a rookie O-lineman. One false start the first day, none since. So that's number one," Burrow said of Fairchild.

"Number two, he seems very confident in the calls, his techniques. We're an offense that's been together now for basically five years. Plug-and-play guys here and there. But you're building on the offense that entire time. When you change one thing, and you go down a different tree of change on that route, that play … so we're talking about things that are very advanced in the offensive room, and for him to come in and take ownership of that, I think, has been very impressive." …

Right tackle Amarius Mims, just as impressive in his second camp, missed the second team drills and pass rush and was replaced by Devin Cochran. Peters indicated it wasn't a big issue as he looks for Mims to take a huge leap after a solid rookie year.

"What more do you want?" asked Peters, who believes Mims' blend of size and athleticism is as rare as he's seen. "The biggest thing for him is mentality. That you should start to understand that you have to dominate. It's not good enough for me just to get out there and block. We've got to take it to the next rung. (He has) that in (his) body." …

Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. showed why he's a leader and incumbent captain late Wednesday as the practice and tempers grew short. Running back Chase Brown got tangled in space with edge Joseph Ossai, and the two disagreed with a scrum in which Ossai wouldn't let up. Orlando Brown was between the two and reflexively whaled on Ossai to keep him away from Chase Brown.

"That's what we do. We protect," Peters said.

Brown: "I was just in moment. That's all it was. Nothing more. I have to go apologize to (Ossai). I feel embarrassed. It's like one of those actual emotions that just happen." …