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2021 Training Camp and Pre-Season News Thread and chatter

membengal

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gupps Pro Bowler

gupps

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8 hours ago, spicoli said:

 

This may very well (and probably is) right, but that report is worrying. Hopefully Burrow can work thru this without playing in any preseason games.

 

Then again, if he was dropping dimes all over the place we would be bitching about the defense. :DudeComeOn-min:

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UncleEarl Hall Of Fame

UncleEarl

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2 hours ago, gupps said:

This may very well (and probably is) right, but that report is worrying. Hopefully Burrow can work thru this without playing in any preseason games.

 

Then again, if he was dropping dimes all over the place we would be bitching about the defense. :DudeComeOn-min:

 

The thing that scares me is if he is protecting the leg.  I remember how Palmer did not want to plant his front leg after his knee reconstruction.  Hurt his accuracy, IMO.  Its natural to feel that way I would suppose, but he is going to have to get over it if he is gonna play well. 

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Jamie_B Hall Of Fame

Jamie_B

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32 minutes ago, UncleEarl said:

 

The thing that scares me is if he is protecting the leg.  I remember how Palmer did not want to plant his front leg after his knee reconstruction.  Hurt his accuracy, IMO.  Its natural to feel that way I would suppose, but he is going to have to get over it if he is gonna play well. 

 

 

Hopefully it's just a matter of getting the snaps

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|SF2|

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On 8/3/2021 at 10:24 PM, claptonrocks said:

Jordan Price and Johnson were just that ..

Is there  salad in any if them?

 

Bunch of right handed Catsup (not the proper Ketchup) bottle wielding Miracle Whip lovers.  

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membengal

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Relevant to Burrow chatter (and good that Paul did this since it was his note that set off the crazy over-reactions everywhere yesterday):

 

https://theathletic.com/2752811/2021/08/04/bengals-training-camp-why-zac-taylor-gave-joe-burrow-the-day-off-and-assessing-the-qbs-comfort-level/

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One year ago, it was hard not to marvel at how quickly Joe Burrow entered the NFL without OTAs, in-person meetings or any on-field experience on this level and started roasting the defense for touchdowns.

 

He entered the opener against the Chargers with zero NFL game snaps taken and by the end led an epic two-minute drill that had the game-winning touchdown taken away by a pass interference penalty against A.J. Green.

 

By midseason as a rookie, he had a limited supporting cast ranked second in the NFL in points per drive over a month period.

Then, after a devastating knee injury suffered in Washington and thoughts of missing time, it’s rarely been a question in recent months as he crushed his rehab to be fully cleared by the start of camp and all systems go toward the opener.

 

At every turn since entering the league as the national champion, Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 pick, Burrow left reasonable expectations in the dust.

 

Was it unfair to think he would show up the first week of camp with his ACL near 100 percent and immediately look in midseason form, totally comfortable with his pocket presence and again start roasting a defense that’s exponentially improved over last season? I mean, why not? We just come to expect it. Watching him work, it’s easy to take the quarterback for granted. It’s Joe Burrow, of course he will.

 

But the last week has not been easy. It has been ugly at times with a side of frustration. Even teammates can see him working through the adjustment. “He’s kind of a little iffy on his knee, but it is kind of hard to tell,” Tyler Boyd said. “In my opinion, I feel like he’s ready to go. I also feel he don’t want to do too much.”

 

And on Wednesday, head coach Zac Taylor gave Burrow the day off.

 

How much of the decision stems from a need to mentally and physically back away from a string of rough practices and how much should all this raise an antenna of concern of where Burrow’s at with the opener against Minnesota 39 days away?

 

Well, there’s important nuance and context to sift through to make sense of it all.

 

Let’s start with the day off.

 

Taylor admitted prior to camp he would splice a few off days for Burrow in the mix as he keeps an eye on his rehab. With a team off day scheduled for Thursday, resting the quarterback Wednesday allows for 48 hours of rest. His eyes can turn toward a three-day burst of practice set for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

 

It doesn’t mean Burrow was thrilled with watching Wednesday, but it’s all part of tracking to the opener against Minnesota.

“He wants the reps,” Taylor said. “He wants to be in there with the guys continuing to gain chemistry with these receivers so it’s not something he wants to do, but he’s not the head coach so he doesn’t get to make that decision.”

Taylor gave similar breaks to defensive tackle D.J. Reader (quad) and center Trey Hopkins (ACL), who are cleared but still working back off major injuries with expectations of starting the opener.

 

Next came the nature of Wednesday’s practice. The session was heavy on goal-line and run game, including some live snaps. If there were a moment to back off the quarterback, it would be a day mostly about running the football and judging the trenches. “There wasn’t an exact plan in place on how every guy was going to look so we just want to adjust,” Taylor said. “Today with the short-yardage and goal-line emphasis … it’s a good time to give a quarterback off … Just balancing what the emphasis in practice is and keeping those guys fresh off of surgery and ready to go for next week.”

 

Taylor wouldn’t broach the mental aspect of giving a break to Burrow, who has been going hard since being cleared at the conditioning test on July 24. But the benefits of backing away from a string of football that’s looked considerably out of character makes plenty of sense.

 

As for why that has been an issue with figuring out the reason for days like the 5-for-12 performance with an interception Tuesday and similar stats with another pick Monday, it does go beyond a quarterback who doesn’t quite look comfortable.

“I think it’s the whole unit right now,” Taylor said. “We’re just getting a feel for each other. You’d like to be throwing touchdowns on every play right now, but we got some progress to be made. But there’s no cause for panic or any reason for that.”

 

A major reason for no panic is the nature of the first week of camp. The focus has been on the installation of the offense. That leaves the quarterback with little wiggle room to get to whatever play he’d like and move the ball that way.

You become more limited in finding answers to beat the defense, an obvious strength of the second-year quarterback. The installation portion of the program is essentially over. Moving forward, there will be more normal football, working on sustaining drives in a true replica of game situations. That makes a difference both for quarterback and play caller.

 

“It’s all scripted,” Taylor said of the recent practices. “(Tuesday) you saw a 14-play, 12-personnel script so there was no 11 personnel in there. I think they are going to benefit from some moving the ball and changing up the personnels and doing some different things instead of just focusing on the periods we’ve done.”

 

That still doesn’t explain away the consistent struggles of the passing game, which included drops from Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, no real deep connections to speak of, as well as a collection of off-target balls from Burrow.

 

A significant slice of the credit should belong to a defense that has shown much better than most expected. There just has not been a ton of separation for Burrow, Brandon Allen or any of the quarterbacks to exploit.

 

Yes, there has been periodic pressure in Burrow’s face, but considering knowing he won’t actually take a hit, it’s hard to put that into the formula too much.

 

There’s just a lot of adjusting that’s happening on the fly for all of us to watch and judge in real-time.

 

So, what should you learn and where is the concern? Well, we learned contrary to popular belief, Burrow is human. He’s not an adversity-overcoming robot capable of crushing convention at every snap.

 

It’s proving to be a process, one that offensive coordinator Brian Callahan pointed out before training camp began you could see taking the entire five weeks to feel totally comfortable in the pocket. Taylor and the staff have that long game in mind. It’s why they gave Burrow off Wednesday and aim toward a refresh starting Friday.

 

It will be imperative to see progress made and no more practices look like the ones witnessed this past Friday, Monday and Tuesday.

 

After the certainty of Burrow becoming almost a non-storyline as he cruised through the summer looking fantastic, throwing with extra velocity and impressing his teammates with his presence, the progress belongs back under the microscope if wondering what to expect when he takes the field against the Vikings.

 

Yet, if in July there was one aspect of this team you would place a bet on being just fine, it would be the combination of Burrow-Chase-Higgins-Boyd. That’s still a solid bet to make in August. Taylor’s still making it with the idea of what it will look like in September.

 

“I know what the offense is going to be capable of, especially in the passing game,” he said. “That’s why I like what I’m seeing from this team because I know what we’re going to be and we’ve got plenty of time to get there. That’s what helps me sleep at night because I know it’s coming. I know what the perception is as people watch, but we’re going to get there and it’s going to be fun to watch.”

 

 

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Griever Hall Of Fame

Griever

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33 minutes ago, membengal said:

Relevant to Burrow chatter (and good that Paul did this since it was his note that set off the crazy over-reactions everywhere yesterday):

 

https://theathletic.com/2752811/2021/08/04/bengals-training-camp-why-zac-taylor-gave-joe-burrow-the-day-off-and-assessing-the-qbs-comfort-level/

 

Thanks for posting this. Count me as one of the people that read his previous comment about protecting his leg/knee and went "yikes..."

 

Good to know that a lot of the struggles are install-based, not to mention the Defense usually has a leg-up at this point in training camp. I am sure there will be some natural fears and instinctual reactions for Burrow to get over, but he's faced a lot of adversity before and got through it. I trust this will be the same, in time.

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