CINCINNATI — Shemar Stewart knows how critical Joe Burrow is to any championship hopes the Bengals have this season.
That’s why he felt badly Wednesday when he stumbled on his charge in the pocket and fell into Joe Burrow, knocking the quarterback to the ground.
The offensive line, namely Lucas Patrick and Ted Karras, took exception with the contact, with Patrick punching him on the next play from scrimmage and starting a scuffle on the practice field.
After Wednesday’s practice, Karras told reporters that Stewart should know that he can’t hit the quarterback because “that’s all our hopes and dreams right there.”
By the time he took the field Friday, Wednesday’s incident was long in the past.
“That’s something easy, especially when it’s an accident” Stewart said. “I know not to touch the main guy. So it was an accidental slip. Next time I should just fall or something.”
On Friday he didn’t need to fall. He just needed to find the next dimension, as he beat right tackle Cody Ford and got to Burrow for a “sack” without touching him.
“I did the matrix,” Stewart joked.
Clearly, Stewart learned from what happened on Wednesday.
“I tried to hold myself up, but I just kept falling,” Stewart said. “Just bad ball by me. You don’t want to have on your conscience that you could possibly get your quarterback hurt. Of course, I went over there, apologize. No bad blood, making sure, like making sure he knows that it was an accident.”
What was Burrow’s response?
“I told him it was an accident and I didn’t mean to do that and he’s like, ‘That’s cool, as long as you do it on Sundays.’ We just forgot about what happened,” Stewart said.
As for the spillover of emotion that turned into an intrasquad scuffle?
“As T.J. (Slaton) says, you can be okay with that kind of thing every now and then, for sure,” Stewart said. “You know, you gotta get it out. Sometimes, somehow, if you keep it in, that can be good for each team or for yourself.”
The defensive line has been one of the most encouraging storylines of camp to date. The first-round draft pick has demonstrated first-round talent and first-round attitude, not bowing to anybody. T.J. Slaton is a beast on the nose. Kris Jenkins Jr., with his pancake of Lucas Patrick Friday, is showing that freakish athleticism he showed at Michigan. Joseph Ossai looks re-energized and Trey Hendrickson is waiting to sign an extension, and was coaching up linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. on the rehab field Friday.
“It’s a brotherhood,” Stewart told me. “We’ve gotta learn how to play with each other, play off each other. That’s how we play even faster as a team. So every day they come together, try to learn off each other, trying to learn how to do things with certain people.
“It’s hard. It’s big league now. So every day I’m trying to get one percent better. I’m not looking at the end goal. I’m just focused on the now, focus on trying to just get better in the moment. You’ve gotta get ready. Play Hard and play as long as you can, and somebody will get you out when you need. So that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Bengals Camp Day 15:
* Geno Stone returned to camp practice in pads. Only in individual drills. First practice since tweaking hamstring against Eagles on Aug. 7.
* Cody Ford got a look at right tackle Friday with Lucas Patrick at right guard.
* DJ Turner didn’t see reps in 11s with a compression sleeve on his left calf.
* Trey Hendrickson spent several minutes coaching up rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. on rush techniques.
* On another red zone snap, the defense read a run for Chase Brown to the right, with Demetrius Knight Jr. overrunning the play but Joseph Ossai and Logan Wilson were there in support and snuffed out the play, with linebacker coach Mike Hodges cheering them on. Wilson took a shot on the play, running into Ossai. He sat out a few snaps while trainer Matt Summers tended to him. He later returned.
* Brown also caught a pass in the end zone from Joe Burrow on a nice multi-progression read. Brown sat in the middle of the defense as Burrow found him.
* Burrow hit Andrei Iosivas in stride on a 30-yard seam route, splitting Logan Wilson and Tycen Anderson.
* Another sharp Burrow-Yoshi connection came on a sideline out where Burrow put the pass right over a rushing Dax Hill and on the money to Yoshi, who extended and caught the ball and got both feet in for a first down.
* Iosivas also had a leaping catch down the left sideline, beating Cam Taylor-Britt in 7s.
* Ja’Marr Chase with a sharp up-and-out break to corner to beat Fig Newton to back corner for TD, just getting his feet down. Perfectly placed ball from Burrow.
* Bengals practice again Saturday morning before traveling to Washington Sunday for their Monday night game against the Commanders.
