Training camp serves a multitude of purposes, whether it’s to give rookies the opportunity to show off their talent and be given the chance to make the team, or for veterans to knock off some of the offseason rust.
In Orlando Brown Jr’s. case, it’s the latter option.
The typical training camp tensions were starting to rise as both the offense and defense grew tired of facing the same matchups, so needless to say they were excited to face off against a new opponent, the Chicago Bears, in a joint practice ahead of their second preseason game in Cincinnati.
Coach Zac Taylor announced the starters will not play in this preseason game. Opinions aside, this gives the starters even more reason to add a little more gameday effort in the practice. They won’t have many more chances to polish up before Week 1.
Joe Burrow’s main message after the joint practice Thursday was ‘urgency’. Most of the media agreed it was a clear win by the Bengals 1’s on defense against the Bears 1’s on offense, and that it was a decent day vice versa.
Most said they saw an obvious improvement on the offensive side of the ball, especially on the line, but it still wasn’t great. One of the biggest question marks in camp had been veteran left tackle, Orlando Brown Jr., but it was unanimous that he looked better.
One of the biggest positives going into training camp was bringing back all 5 starters on the offensive line. The continuity was there, and there was nobody new, and they finished last season on the same page. Unfortunately, Brown was also a big question mark last season. It’s not a mystery he’s not getting any younger, but everyone knows all he has to do is hold his own on the line.
There’s been a saying going around training camp this season with the newly improved defensive line: Iron sharpens iron. It’s safe to say the defensive line has won a good majority of the battles so far throughout training camp, but it depends on how you look at that.
I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily a knock on the offensive line, but at the same time you have to prove yourself. On ESPN 360 on Thursday after the practice, they were talking, and they mentioned the offensive line continues to say guys like Dexter Lawrence and Boye Mafe are fast and strong and they are killing them, which, again, is good practice, but if you want to win and make it back to the Super Bowl, you can’t just keel over and give that excuse.
Despite having an easier schedule, they’ll still have to guard many strong, fast defensive linemen. You still need to protect the quarterback, which has been the issue for as long as Joe Burrow has been a Bengal.
I do think this line will be okay entering Week 1, and I think they are very aware of their task. I also believe facing this new defensive line will eventually be great practice for them. Very similar to the saying, ‘If you can face them, you can face anyone.’
But they are going to have to step it up a notch and make sure every bit of rust is knocked off when the season starts.