The Cincinnati Bengals welcomed fans to the first of three practices open to the public on Saturday, or Day 4 of training camp, and the optimism was palpable throughout the stadium.
On Saturday, Bengals fans flooded to Paul Brown Stadium for the first of three training camp practices that were open to the public. There were an estimated 15,000 fans in the stadium and the energy was electric.
The roar of the crowd as Joe Burrow and Trey Hopkins walked out of the tunnel was second to none, and that was before the majority of the crowd had made it into the stadium. The roughly two-hour practice was heavily scripted, but this is what Bengals fans should take away from the practice.
Cincinnati Bengals Training Camp – Joe Burrow looks fantastic
Fans have read so many stories and watched every possible video of Joe Burrow’s recovery, but on Saturday, they were able to feast their eyes on the franchise quarterback.
It’s clear that Zac Taylor and company are not holding anything back from Burrow as he recovers from his knee injury. Burrow was rolling out and launching passes to Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tyler Boyd, a sight that we’re hoping to get used to in 2021 and beyond.
Dan Hoard tweeted that Burrow went 14 of 20 in team drills but the highlight play of the day came when Burrow tossed a perfectly thrown ball to the back pylon for Higgins to make a play on. Higgins came down with the contested catch and the crowd went wild for the biggest play of the day.
The offense still has a way to go in terms of getting in sync, but it is very early in training camp. The speed and explosiveness on the offense are extremely noticeable and will have a chance to take the league by storm this season.