Notes From Training Camp 2025

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Via Charlie Goldsmith.....Rookies  
https://charlieschalkboard.substack.com/p/zac-taylors-hands-on-approach-with

Quote:“We were messing up early on,” backup linebacker Maema Njongmeta said yesterday as he reflected on the 2024 season. “We had a bunch of guys who were showing up late. We were kind of a troublesome class.”

So at the end of the first month of the season last year, Taylor called the entire rookie class into his office.

According to a few of last year’s rookies, the message was along these lines.

“You guys will be called upon sooner than you think. Don’t wait. Start showing up now. Don’t wait until you’re in that position to start acting like a leader. How you become a leader in the league is if you earn peoples’ respect, you earn the right to speak. Start showcasing it now, wherever you’re at. Lead from where you are.”

Quote:“Everyone needed a wakeup call,” Anthony said. “Coach Zac Taylor got the message to us really good. He’s a very good coach. He was telling us that we need to take our game from here to there because we have high expectations. You want high expectations from your coaches and your peers.”


Over the course of the season, Taylor developed specific messages for this group that hit on the team’s history or the story of a specific player.

Quote:Following a year where the Bengals needed more from their first-year players, the Bengals’ veteran leaders also received a good reminder of what their roles are in helping develop these players.

“You always want to help bring them along,” BJ Hill said. “You always want to be that guy that gives good advice and information. We always bring in some good young guys who come in and compete every year. It makes the team better. It makes people compete.”

Quote:Heading into 2025, Taylor has planned one-on-one meetings with each rookie “to get to know them on a deeper level and understand where they’re coming from and let them understand where I’m coming from.”