SLANTS AND SCREENS
Marco Wilson is another cornerback who was banged up early, missed the preseason opener and now looks more than ready. He also had a huge day back there, where he denied Higgins’ big body on a back-shoulder throw and then, on a Burrow scramble, had good enough position on Higgins that the pass went way over their heads.
All of which is a reminder why they thought Wilson played well down the stretch in the final six games of the year after they claimed him off waivers from New England. In games the Bengals won, Wilson covered on third down No. 1 receivers like Tennessee’s Calvin Ridley, Cleveland’s Jerry Jeudy and Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb.
Burks often says Wilson is the kind of guy who can wake up at 5:30 in the morning and go out and just flat cover.
“Marco is extremely competitive. Somebody I trust,” Burks said. “He was an asset to us on third down last year and will be another asset to us on third down this year. He can cover at a high level. He can cover the No. 1s in the league. He can cover Ja’Marr and Tee. If he can cover those guys man to man with no help …” …
It was a rough practice for the offense, complete with the first major scuffle of camp that set the tone of a chippy practice.
Apparently, first-round pick Shemar Stewart started it all on the first series of Move the Ball when he got a little too friendly with Burrow after a terrific pass rush gave him a free run to the pocket. That set everybody off, especially the offensive line.
Karras let Stewart know in his post-practice media scrum that Burrow is how they live and can’t be touched. He also said, “We’ve got to be better (up front). That’s on us.” New right guard Lucas Patrick, vying to make his fourth Opening Day start with a different club this decade, has been around and got into the mix.
“Got to protect Nine. It has to start with me up front,” Patrick said. “I have to play better. Protect better. But I can’t let Nine get hit. We have to protect our quarterback. Got to have his back no matter what.”
As for dealing with scrums, Patrick appeared to take his own advice: “Be a pro about it. Man-to-man, you talk. Quash it there. Hot, long days going Bengals vs. Bengals for, I can’t remember when we reported. We have to protect Nine.”
The upside is that Stewart was quite active with the first defensive line rotating with Joseph Ossai and Cam Sample on the edges. Stewart started the day off at right end with Myles Murphy not practicing, and made some nice plays in the running game. He was also one of the guys forcing Burrow to scramble more than he liked.
Patrick may have had some words with Stewart, but he also had these words for him:
“His play speed is pretty significant. You can tell he’s starting to get comfortable. There aren’t many guys that get full speed in two to three steps like him. It’s good to practice against, and it’s great to work fundamentals with someone who can move like that. Very few people on this planet cover ground like him at the line of scrimmage.” …
Left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., wasn’t at practice, so, like last year, Cody Ford got the call in his first appearance at left tackle this camp. No word on Brown, but it didn’t appear to be alarming …
Cornerback DJ Turner II was dressed with everything but a helmet …
Wide receiver Jermaine Burton remained on the rehab field …
Voice of the Bengals and Ring of Honor member Dave Lapham and Super Bowl safety Solomon Wilcots anchored Sirius NFL Radio’s training camp report …
Bengals president Mike Brown, a big Reds fan, welcomed a contingent of Reds players to practice. Head coach Zac Taylor chatted them up during stretch. Asked who the best football player among them was, they pointed to 5-9, 180-pound infielder Matt McLain.
“The smallest guy here,” they said.
McLain had been telling them about his career at Beckman High School in Irvine, Calif., where he had six interceptions as a sophomore cornerback. But that was it for football. The team wasn’t that good and, besides, less than two years later the Diamondbacks made him the 25th pick in the country before he went to UCLA …