Player of the Day

There are those at Paycor Stadium who believe the pass Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had intercepted in one of Saturday’s team sessions at training camp wouldn’t have been tried in a game.

Since Burrow is known for tinkering, some thought when he bootlegged to his right and saw Mafe bearing down from the edge, he just wanted to see what would happen when he tried to throw it through Mafe’s arms.

It never reached tight end Drew Sample in the flat and ended up in the arms of diving slot cornerback Jalen Davis. But then, if Burrow is tinkering, so is Mafe, the $60 million Super Bowl pass rusher the Bengals nabbed in free agency who seems to be paying immediate dividends.

On Saturday, he got pressure on Burrow in a variety of ways during an active day. A bull rush. Getting to the perimeter on that bootleg to harass Burrow off play-action.

And the guys blocking him are noticing. Mafe is apparently playing at one speed, and he’s not slowing down in walkthroughs.

“Mafe’s an exciting player,” said tight end Erick All Jr.  “In the walkthroughs, as a coach, I would love to see that. A guy flying around who loves the game. He’s not going to regret anything. I want those guys on my team. He’s yapping. He’s real strong. He looks fast.”

As Mafe stalked Burrow, a coaching point clicked in his helmet.

“When I get in that situation, mirror the throwing hand,” Mafe said. “The other day I got close to Joe, but didn’t mirror the throwing hand. Today I had an emphasis to make sure I did.”

But he may not, the next time.

“One thing about me, I’m out there working trying to crack my craft,” Mafe said. “Camp is where you fine-tune your craft. You work all summer on different moves, different ways to elevate your game. See what works, see what doesn’t work, see what you can take into the season.”

Since coming over from Seattle in the Bengals’ first wave of overhauling the defense in March, Mafe says he feels welcomed by everyone around the building, particularly his defense and linemates.

“I feel like we’re on a mission,” Mafe said. “We’re learning the defense together, how to rush the passer together.”

As if on cue, a few minutes later, Mafe, still in his uniform, was at the locker of de facto defensive captain and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II. Mafe says he and Lawrence, the offseason acquisition that sealed the renovation when he brought his three Pro Bowls, were “talking shop.”

“Just think about it,” said Lawrence of his advice during this stage of the season. “Just trying to create that extra edge. It’s just experience and reps. Knowing how guys are going to play me and help the guys around me be effective …  Instead of a no-pressure, we could have got a pressure doing little things … Just keep growing.”

Footnote: As Mafe and Lawrence chatted, center Ted Karras compared this defense to the NFL’s top-ranked scoring defense he saw every day as a rookie in New England during 2016 when the Patriots stole the Super Bowl from the Falcons.

But those Pats had nobody like Lawrence on their defensive front. No Pro Bowlers. Unless you count hybrid backer Kyle Van Noy and his one Pro Bowl.