Excerpts From Paul Dehner The Athletic

Mike Thomas “There’s no comparison,” Thomas said. “We respect him (Zac) for that and we love it. We love the schedule and any chance we get we make sure he (Zac) knows and understands that.”

Ted Karras “I think Zac is one of the best schedulers ever,” Karras said. “Just an amazing schedule and great culture here.”

Dehner: The praise reflects a staff leaning into sports science research with an emphasis on what type of work must be done and what makes the most sense over the long haul of the season.

Taylor says he focuses on three priorities with his setup:

1. Refreshing systems, recall of what they do, adding tweaks.
2. Reestablishing team chemistry.
3. Bringing free agents, rookies up to speed to be ready by training camp.

“You can balance those three things with the schedule,” Taylor said. “What we focus on is the meeting time in the meeting room and on the field make sure the players understand all the techniques we are going to want.”

Still, the Bengals started 2-3 before streaking into the playoffs and those early losses cost a shot at home-field advantage versus the Chiefs. Taylor wasn’t buying an argument of correlation to the easy offseason.

“Week 1 last year we lost the turnover battle 5-0 and missed a walk-off PAT,” Taylor said. An emergency appendectomy taking away much of camp for Joe Burrow didn’t help matters, either. “To me, I just look at it logically. I don’t look at 0-2 or 2-3 and they started slow, I didn’t think that was the case. I felt there were clear reasons. There was no correlation to me with how we operated in the offseason.”

Hubbard agreed wholeheartedly. As a captain at the core of decision-making he doesn’t see this schedule as taking away anything. He views Taylor’s system as shifting to trusting players and away from chaperoning them.

“I personally don’t understand why some professional staffs babysit players like that,” Hubbard said, then acknowledging every staff and organization can have unknown dynamics at play. “That you need to be here every second. Full helmets. Full 11-on-11. I feel like that is college.”

“If I felt like guys were just going through the motions right now, then we would ramp it up,” Taylor said. “Guys are locked in. The Sam Hubbards and Trey Hendricksons, guys who have been in this league a long time, they are taking every on-air rep like it is the Super Bowl. We are still getting really good work out of this. It’s not like we are just checking a box saying we did it. We are in here getting good work in our individual work. I feel like our players are getting better.”

Hubbard leaned over his stool, huffing and puffing Tuesday, after putting himself through a rigorous post-practice workout. The Cincinnati Kid who survived a 98-yard chase in January puts it on himself to be prepared for those moments and that concept being shared matters in the way the Bengals want to operate.

“It is the relationship and trust we have developed between the coaching staff and leaders of the team,” Hubbard said. “They listen to what we have to say. We tell them what we need to stay healthy and peak at the right time. Rather than risk injuries and get unnecessary wear and tear on our bodies this time of year when it doesn’t really translate at all to the season, they listen to us and we, in turn, when it is time for us to go come training camp we give everything we’ve got because they have taken care of us and listen to us. It’s just a great working relationship.”

For now, it’s clearly not a trend. The Bengals are living in the NFL minority. Perhaps a few more scaled-back offseasons that end with practice weeks in January and February might change the attitude in this copycat league. Taylor doesn’t concern himself with any of that.

“I don’t know what the other 29 teams do,” he said, citing his experience with the Dolphins and Rams. “You are just on your own doing it the way that makes sense to you and hoping you get good work in. And we know we are getting good work in so it makes you sleep better at night.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ex-bengals-rb-officially-announces-his-retirement/ar-AA1bE7OZ?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=45793b872eea45ed9ce110bf250f43eb&ei=7

Quote:Former Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill has announced his retirement from football.

Yes, it’s been a long time since you’ve heard the name Jeremy Hill, so you probably already figured he was retired, but that wasn’t the case.

Hill was a second-round pick by the Bengals in 2014 out of LSU. As a rookie in 2014, Hill had 1,124 rushing yards, nine rushing touchdowns, 27 receptions and 215 receiving yards. The following season, he tied for the NFL lead with 11 rushing touchdowns. Hill rushed for 839 yards and nine touchdowns in 2016, which was his last productive season.

That RT spot is going to be hotly contested. JMHO. It’s really 3 guys in survival mode. Collins in shape could be a factor

#Bengals OT La'el Collins just posted this on his IG story, five months post knee injury. pic.twitter.com/Hmp76IC5b0

— Andrew Gillis (@Andrew_Gillis70) May 24, 2023

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-quarterback-rankings-all-32-starters-2023-nfl-season

Believe Joe was #2 in Feb. But they basically said Allen and Burrow are both 2.
3. JOE BURROW, CINCINNATI BENGALS

Burrow has led the league in PFF passing grade (by fractions) in each of the past two regular seasons. He has shown that, while everybody might be chasing special athletes at the position, just putting the ball in the right place at the right time is still capable of transformative play at the position. He has a career 77.1% adjusted completion rate, and his turnover-worthy play rate has gone down in each of his NFL seasons.

https://brobible.com/sports/article/bengals-working-on-extensions-higgins-wilson/

Get Joe's numbers confirmed and then onto Higgins and Wilson. This is a good sign that they are moving closer with Burrow

Update: The #Bengals want to sign WR Tee Higgins and LB Logan Wilson to long term extensions.

The team views Higgins as an "Elite" wide receiver, per @JFowlerESPN

They will focus on those deals once the Joe Burrow contract is done.https://t.co/0u8uxr2t1v pic.twitter.com/0lilqRcoHW

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) May 23, 2023

Quote:The Cincinnati Bengals are looking to secure long-term extensions for wide receiver Tee Higgins and linebacker Logan Wilson, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The team highly values Higgins, considering him an “elite” wide receiver, despite some outside perceptions that label him as a great WR2 rather than an exceptional number 1 option. The Bengals intend to focus on these contract negotiations once they have finalized a deal with quarterback Joe Burrow. Burrow is expected to earn over $50 million in his next contract, but he has expressed his commitment to keeping his teammates in mind, a sentiment appreciated by Higgins.

Voting for the Ring of Honor Class of 2023 is underway for season ticket holders. This year's nominees are:

-Jim Breech
-James Brooks
-Cris Collinsworth
-Corey Dillon
-Boomer Esiason
-David Fulcher
-Chad Johnson
-Tim Krumrie
-Dave Lapham
-Max Montoya
-Lamar Parrish
-Bob Trumpy
-Reggie Williams

My votes, if I could vote, would go to
-Lamar Parrish
-Max Montoya
second choices
-Bob Trumpy
-Tim Kumrie

I leaned heavily towards some of the older guys. Get them in while they are still alive to enjoy it

Now that the Bengals are a respected powerhouse in todays NFL, it’s not as painful to look back at some of the head scratching decisions this franchise has made over the years. There is plenty to choose from. Not making the trade with Ditka and drafting Akili to the Palmer debacle. What’s your biggest Bengals blunder.

I’ll go with NOT making Bill Walsh head coach. Our SB’s may have had a different outcome. The only problem I have is we may have never had Sam wyche, my favorite Bengal coach. However Bill did bring Sam into the NFL when he was with SF, so who knows. Maybe Sam would have been Bills successor. Maybe we can do a Best Bengals decision at some point later. For now, what’s your worst decision.

The Bengals brought down all the Rookies and a couple of younger players to Fort Knox yesterday to visit the facilities and do some drills with the local youth. 
Below are a few pics


Ivey doesn't get a lot of love here, so he gets the 1st picture


 

Andrei wouldn't leave me alone until I took a picture with him


The funny thing about the Andrei picture was I cropped the Ball Boy coming up on my right out of the shot. Once I got home I realized it was Charlie Jones


Former Bengal RB and current Director of Player Personnel Eric Ball

We hope you can join us for Jungle to the Hall III at the Banks, Saturday, June 10th.

Thanks to you the fans and the incredible media push we will induct Ken Riley into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, but our work isn't done!

Join both past and current Bengals greats as we once again rally for more of our deserving Bengals to be enshrined in Canton!  ADMISSION is FREE!

The Banks (between Paycor and GABP)
⏰ 1:00 to 4:00
Date -  Saturday,June 10th

List of attendees continues to grow :
Dave Lapham, Dan Hoard, Geoff Hobson, David Fulcher, Joe Kelly, Ken Riley II, Ken Anderson, Jim Breech, Soloman Wilcots, Glenn Bujnoch.
Bengal Player/Fan Rally & autograph session

RSVP by clicking: HERE

Steve Smith Sr., Arian Foster & Chase are the only ones who can transition (pick up speed) in a relaxed state effortlessly, it’s like they’re gliding as opposed to running damn near. https://t.co/PlPPZcjekh

— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) May 19, 2023