Notes and quotes from Tuesday's Bengals' training camp practice.
Player of the Day
CB Josh Newton
He's only three days old, but Zaire Newton has already been an inspiration for the Bengals cornerbacks room, where his dad Josh stepped out Tuesday morning and had his best practice of camp.
With Dax Hill sidelined, DJ Turner II getting a rest, Jalen Davis nicked, and the Lions looming in Thursday's preseason opener (7 p.m.-Cincinnati's Channel 19) at Paycor Stadium, Newton and D. J. Ivey took the corner for the ones in a 10-play team tuneup.
Newton, looking to bounce back from a sophomore season he saw his snaps drop dramatically after a solid rookie year, turned in two terrific plays.
One at the line of scrimmage, where he fought through wide receiver Tee Higgins' block and blew up a screen, and another when he defused the signature pylon play of Burrow and wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase with a man-sized pass breakup.
Newton flashbacked to the archives when he saw Burrow send his receivers out four by one.
"We've won games with that. That little out route to the front pylon. They've won plenty of games like that," Newton said. "Everybody on offense was to one side, and it was just me and Ja'Marr."
Burrow threw a rope, but Newton knocked it down like a basketball player denying the passing lane. His instincts also aided him on the screen as he stalked Higgins because his assignment was playing "the hard flat." Still, taking on the 6-4 Higgins was hard, too.
"It was like an RPO look. Just know the screen is coming," Newton said.
His newborn also has instincts. Zaire was born at 3:35 a.m. in Christ Hospital Saturday, a players' off-day. It didn't take long for cornerbacks coach Charles Burks to find meaning in his arrival.
Since Zaire shares the same name as the city that hosted the first Rumble in the Jungle in 1974 (48 years before Hubbard, Sam), and Muhammad Ali is Burks' favorite athlete, Burks told his players all about it.
How George Foreman, the 24-year-old heavyweight champion of the world came to Africa destroying people with terrifying power. How Ali, 32, regained the title seven years after he had it with a ferocious blend of grit and wits.
That was the message.
"Willpower over strength," said Newton, who is coming back, too. "This (crap) isn't over yet."
PLAY OF THE DAY
S Jordan Battle
Battle had to win it when he ranged into centerfield to snare Burrow's ball to Chase in the end zone. But he also made a heck of a play in the run game when he came downhill and picked out running back Chase Brown in the maze up front made possible by the defensive line.
Battle says this is the most together and in-tune the defense has been in his four seasons here. He's a big reason why. He quietly has never missed a game to go with those 30 starts, and the experience has piled up.
Like it did when Burrow was under center with two tight ends at his disposal. He had good time to throw because Chase Brown chipped edge Boye Mafe after Mafe had blown up the first two plays of the day. Maybe Battle sensed so much he cheated just a tad and wasn't all the way in the middle.
"I was checking the release of Ja'Marr. I saw him go deep. I took my eyes back to Joe," Battle said. "Joe had the high shoulder, (so) he was releasing the ball. I broke from centerfield. It's knowing where his go-to guys are playing. It's more to them instead of just in the middle."
Quote of the Day
"I just kept telling him, I don't think that the heavy stuff's going to come for a while. But I was happy. We moved (practice) up 35 minutes to try to get some work on the grass. And I was hoping for about 20 more minutes, but I think it was very clear when things started blowing over that you've got to get out of there."
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor's conversation with director of operations Jeff Brickner about moving practice indoors, complete with Caddyshack reference.
So he's got that going for him.
Slants and Screens
Rookie center Connor Lew won't play Thursday, but it's part of a plan for his ACL rehab that has worked well enough for him to get his first six of 10 plays with the ones Tuesday after a week with the twos.
Lew did have a botched under-center snap from Burrow, but he's already moved on since he had taken all but one snap with him before Tuesday. He put starter Ted Karras' advice to good use.
"Go be yourself. Be definitive. No hesitation. Just go out there. You know what you're doing," said Lew, who thought other than the snap that he did what he wanted and didn't make the operation noticeably different.
"The first thing I did was go to (Burrow) and make sure what his thoughts were (on the snap)," Lew said. "It comes with timing and adjusting. I'm not worried about it."
Lew's also encouraged by the state of his knee.
"We're doing a good job in the training room since I got here. They're good about listening," Lew said. "We have our plan. Some days if we need to step back a little, we will, and if I feel really good, we'll push it a little bit." …
Taylor won't push tight end Erick All Jr. either, even though, like Lew, all signs are good, so All won't play. He also won't push the dinged-up starting cornerback Dax Hill, as well as nicked safety Bryan Cook. They won't play Thursday, either …
Tahj Brooks, the sophomore running back, is going to play a lot. Not only as the second-team running back, but also in special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons' first audition to replace Tycen Anderson as the quarterback on the punt team at the punt protector.
Brooks has never played it in a game, but "The way Darrin does practice, it is like a game," Brooks said.
He's been watching plenty of tape from when safety Mike Thomas ran the spot even though Thomas last played it as a Bengal four years ago.
And he hasn't stopped there. When Thomas visited last year as part of his NFL Players Association duties, Brooks picked his brain.
"Mike T. told me some things I could use," Brooks said …
Brooks worked on his route-running over the offseason during his workouts in Austin, Tex., and it paid off Tuesday when backup quarterback Joe Flacco flipped him a wide-open touchdown pass in the flat when his defender got hung up in the wash …
Another good spot to watch is backup cornerback with guys like NFL vet Ja'Sir Taylor and last year's practice squadder Bralyn Lux playing plenty as slot corner Jalen Davis nurses an unknown injury … .
"I think they fit in well. Brayln's in year two in the scheme and Ja'Sir year one, and you can see the veteraness of Ja'Sir," Taylor said. "He's picked it up quickly and integrated himself. I think Brayln's only getting better and better, too." …
With the Lions coming to town known for their physicalness, Taylor believes the Bengals are more than ready.
"I think it's been a really physical training camp. I think as a head coach, there's been a lot to be excited about when I walk off the field. Sometimes I think each coordinator is probably frustrated with their day," Taylor said. "I just think what we have up front on both sides of the ball has dictated a lot of that. There's just been a lot of challenging moments, I think, for both units there. And so that's not necessarily anything I've done from the structure of practice that's made it that way. I think it's just a lot of guys really going at it.
"And I loved getting the heat the other day and the scrimmage. I'd love to get that again next weekend, Saturday and Sunday. I hope it's the same. I want to wear these guys out with some long drives and some heat and try to get them ready for September." ….
