3 Bengals players who popped in final practice before preseason opener

The Cincinnati Bengals take the field on Friday evening for their preseason opener against the Cardinals. Who popped in the team’s final practice before the game takes place? 

Friday night marks the beginning of the preseason for the Cincinnati Bengals, as they welcome the Cardinals for the first game in the newly-named Paycor Stadium.

Before we get to that game, however, the team had to finish up one final practice ahead of the preseason opener. Let’s check out the five players who popped during Wednesday’s practice.

Ja’Marr Chase

This time last year, Ja’Marr Chase was heavily criticized for his drop issues, which, as we saw, ended up not being a big deal at all, as he crushed the competition during the regular season. Chase has looked incredible in training camp and continues to bring the “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd.

At this point, no one is surprised to see Chase dazzling in camp because he’s simply picking up where he left off earlier in the year. Still, it’s nice to have positive storylines surrounding him rather than the alternative.

Trey Hendrickson

Another player fans won’t be shocked to hear is having an incredible camp is Trey Hendrickson, who is flat-out dominating. Ben Baby noted that Hendrickson looks “otherworldly” in the two weeks of camp.

The second-year defensive end is coming off a year where he had not only a career-high in sacks with 14.0 but he also set the Bengals’ single-season sack total by putting up those 14 sacks. He was the difference-maker for Cincinnati’s revamped defense last year and the hope is that he can continue to be a freakish athlete for the defense during the 2022 season.

Jonah Williams

The only time people typically talk about offensive linemen, especially in training camp and the preseason, is when they screw up. Let’s buck that trend!

Jonah Williams is entering his fourth year with the Bengals after they spent a first-round pick on him in 2019 and he’s showing us good things in camp so far. Williams battled injuries for the first two years of his career but showed last year that he could stay healthy for a full season. He’s under contract for the next two seasons.

The media was high on Williams after his performance on Wednesday. Charlie Goldsmith even noted that he had “two perfect reps” during practice and Ben Baby included a video of one of Williams’ solid reps.

These three players were all starters for the Bengals last year so it’s good to see them impressing and giving fans a glimpse of what’s to come in 2022.