The Bengals broke camp a day early Wednesday after one of their most optimistic springs in recent history, and quarterback Joe Burrow had a good reason why.

"I always push for more, but now is certainly not the time for injuries," Burrow said Wednesday. "You do more competitive reps, and it opens that up. We will get plenty of those in July and August and get better other ways."

So head coach Zac Taylor, who devoted much of his offseason program to last month's Phase Two program of the voluntary workouts rather than this month's organized team activities, cut this week's three-day mandatory minicamp to one and sent them into a five-week break with a brief team bonding day of carnival-like events on the Paycor Stadium turf.

"We've been on the field for a good amount of time and got a lot of good work in," Taylor said. "We're not overly physical with the 11-on-11 stuff, and so at some point you just reach a point of diminishing returns when you're out there, and we've accomplished a lot of work.

"It's a decision I made last week, really. We got everything we want to get done. We got all the installs in. I thought the guys did a great job getting to work on the field since late April, when we started meeting and lifting. And then all the field work we've done in May and June, we accomplished everything we set out to accomplish."

If it sounds like Taylor has a veteran team, he does. The offense returns intact and while the defense was overhauled during a $300 million offseason, it's the second year of defensive coordinator Al Golden’s system.

"I think you saw a lot of year two development from a lot of guys, year two in the system development, so that's great to see from all those guys that are returning that we've got high expectations for," Taylor said. "I thought that the leadership that the new guys have brought in, the free agents that we signed, has been tremendous. They've picked it up fast, they've played a lot of ball, so they understand it very well. I just thought the chemistry, the communication has really stepped up on that side the ball, and it's really good to see."

Talented 3-4 Lineup

They didn't wear pads, of course, so it's hard to say anything about the defensive and offensive linemen and tight end the Bengals drafted. But you can say third-round pick Tacario Davis, the cornerback from Washington, and fourth-rounder Colbie Young, the wide receiver from Georgia, held up quite well.

It wouldn't be stunning to say the three best cornerbacks going into the preseason games could very well be Davis and starters Dax Hill and DJ Turner II. Hill is certainly impressed by how the 6-4 Davis moves.

"Fluid in coverage. He brings us a lot at the line of scrimmage with his length," said Hill, who should be fine for training camp after just doing individuals on Tuesday "You don't see guys (tall corners) like that nowadays. That was kind of back in the day. His size brings an intimidating presence."

They make an intriguing trio. Davis with his size, Turner as the quintessential cover corner and Hill as the guy who can play any position in the secondary. Bottom line, especially on third down, it comes down to matchups.

"If that's what the game plan calls for that day, you put your guys on their guys and make them play left-handed," Hill said. We have guys to move the chess pieces around."

Young is also 6-4, which makes him the prototypical Bengals wide receiver. His work habits and attitude have quickly grown on Taylor.

"I'm really pleased with the baseline that he started with when he came in here. Very eager, great personality, willing to do everything it takes," Taylor said. "What works against Colby is the years of experience around him. Everybody's done it all, and so there's not a lot of mistakes happening around.

"Everything's going to be nuanced on exactly how we want it done. He's eagerly doing it. I'm really pleased with the direction he's headed."

And that comes after the spring rules never gave Young a chance to show his blue-chip physicality.

"I'm really excited to see him put the pads on because I think that's going to be a huge advantage for him," Taylor said. "His physicality and being able to separate with that physicality, his run after the catch, he's got really strong hands, so I think some of his best traits will show up when the pads come on."

Camp Dax

Hill is holding a free camp for children ages 8-14 Saturday at Colerain High School from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. It's sold out with 200 kids, and Hill is going to work with the kids assisted by the Colerain coaching staff.

"It's the first time in a year or two we've had a camp, and it's something I want to do every year because I want to keep giving back to the community," Hill said. "The big thing is making it accessible to everyone."

Slants and Screens

Not only is Burrow not going to watch Quarterback even though he was on last season, but one of the series' subjects from last season, backup Joe Flacco, isn't, either.

All episodes of the third season of Quarterback hit July 14 on Netflix, and Flacco is featured with Baker Mayfield, Jayden Daniels and Cam Ward.

"I'll let my wife and kids watch it first, and then I'll probably watch it. Maybe in a few years," Flacco said.

"I guarantee you people are going to watch an episode and come up to me and say, 'I saw you doing this.' I'll get enough of that, so I'll have a pretty good idea what happens."

Flacco did it for one reason. Peyton Manning asked.

"I probably didn't want to do it," Flacco said. "The fact he asked me in the first place makes me feel better about doing it."

Taylor apparently got a preview peek and liked it, but he didn't want to give anything away.

"It's fascinating because he's such a great guy, a great teammate, so much fun to be around. He really enjoys the whole process," Taylor said. "He just enjoys playing football, and he just enjoys being in the locker room, and he's kind of said all that kind of that stuff up here (on the podium).

"It's some of those quotes that he had that really took off last year, but I think that'll just really shine through. I don't want to ruin the show for anybody … But it's entertaining." …

One drafted wide receiver who has panned out well, Andrei Iosivas, has worked hard to have a big fourth season, and his offseason got the best stamp of approval he could have received.

"Andrei looks great this year. Andrei looks unbelievable. He looks big, strong, fast," Burrow said. "He made a couple of really nice contested catches in the spring this year in our limited reps. That's a big area of emphasis for him. That was exciting to see. He's going to continue to improve there, but he looks just like he's playing with so much confidence, confidence in his role, confidence in the offense, and his ability." ….