Bengals Training Camp: Week 1 Review
The Bengals have capped off the first week of training camp under a blazing Cincinnati sun. There’s been some good, some bad, and some interesting developments. We’ll break down the interesting stories that have transpired after a week.
The Bad
Just to get this out of the way, the William Jackson III injury is terrible. Injuries are inevitable during training camp and you hate to see it happen to a first round draft pick. Jackson most likely wasn’t going to be a big contributor on the defensive side of the ball. He would likely be the 5th corner and give this position depth that always has to deal with attrition. However, the Bengals were expecting him to be a big contributor on Special Teams. We will see if newly signed Corey Tindal can step in that special teams role for Jackson.
With the Jackson injury, the Bengals wanted to get Dennard more work. He showed flashes of greatness last season before his season-ending injury. Unfortunately, Dennard tweaked his ankle on Tuesday and has not got the amount of work they would like.
Vontaze Burfict is dealing with some fatigue. Not exactly the biggest story, but that does worry me a bit for a guy that won’t be getting game action for four weeks into the season.
The Good
Andy Dalton appears to have bounced back. After taking a huge step forward last season, Dalton appears to have recovered from his thumb injury and picking up right where he left off.
Tyler Eifert has his walking boot off and has been doing light drills on the rehab field.
Adam “Pacman’ Jones appears to not have lost a step again and continues to defy his age. On Saturday, he had a 50-yard pick 6 of Keith Wenning.
Karlos Dansby has been able to pick up the Bengals’ defensive scheme well and has proven that he will be a more than suitable replacement for Burfict during his suspension.
The Interesting Developments
The wide receiver corps appears to be taking shape. Tyler Boyd has proven that he can play and will be a great contributor to this offense.
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Unfortunately, for CFL star Rashaun Simonise, Boyd’s great play started after Simonise was pulled for a false start and was replaced by Boyd.
also struggled with Dalton’s cadence and had a false start penalty, but has continued to be a reliable big target for Dalton.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Bengals get to hit someone else as the Minnesota Vikings come into town for a split practice. The Bengals will be reunited with Andre Smith, Emmanuel Lamur, and of course Mike Zimmer amongst other former Bengals. The live scrimmage during these two days will really give us a better understanding of what the 53 man roster will look like come late August.