CINCINNATI – Apparently, the Bengals are taking Zac Taylor’s message to heart to start training camp.
On Wednesday, they played pissed off from the start.
On Monday, during media day, Zac Taylor said he wants everyone to be upset about what happened last year. More importantly, he wants everyone committed to not letting it happen again.
“It does piss you off to an extent,” Taylor said. “That’s what we did, and that is how people should see us until we prove them otherwise.”
These Bengals took step one Wednesday – on the first day of camp – in showing they are all about the competitive edge.
They are trying to instill it on both sides of the line of scrimmage from Day 1 of training camp. That much was obvious as they opened their seventh training camp with Joe Burrow as their starting quarterback.
The fire was full display early on the first day of camp on Wednesday. Star receiver Ja’Marr Chase was running a route during full 11-on-11 periods when cornerback DJ Turner II gave him some stiff resistance. Veteran slot corner Jalen Davis, battling for a starting spot in the much-improved Cincinnati secondary, came over to get in Chase’s face with some trash talking.
“Brothers fight,” Turner said. “Just competitive. Everybody is trying to win, that’s all there is to it.”
The star Bengals receiver took exception and got into a shoving match with Davis while tossing Turner’s helmet, which was on the ground, angrily away. It was an edge that was obvious to quarterback Joe Burrow from the start of practice.
“Number 1 (Ja’Marr Chase) sure had one,” Burrow said after the first training camp of the year. “Number 0 (DJ Turner) did, too. So, those two are two of the best in the league, and they’re going at it every day. So, whatever those guys need to get excited to get better, go ahead and do it.”
Entering his seventh NFL season, Burrow knows there’s a balance to be struck between a competing hard with teammates and going too far and risking injury. Burrow made it clear he’s like the scraps between teammates up to a point. That point was when Chase shoved back in the face of Davis.
“To an extent. When it starts to interrupt practice, not too much,” Burrow said. “But if you can maybe punch somebody in the face in about 15 to 20 seconds, and then get back lined up, that’s probably ideal.”
Head coach Zac Taylor is all about motivation early in camp. During a meeting to set the tone for practices, Taylor left something on the meeting room board for all to read: 6-11. That was the record from Cincinnati’s disastrous 2025 season.
Another example of the intensity came during a run by running back Chase Brown. Center Ted Karras took on new defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II one-on-one and sealed a block without pads to open the hole for Brown.
As Brown jumped into the gap for his run, Karras shouted “plus-six, plus-six” at the man in the middle of the Bengals defensive line, indicating a six-yard run.
“Just celebrating that was a good play,” Karras said. “It was a six-yard gain.”
Asked about Karras’ bravado and trash-talking during practice, Lawrence laughed.
“I love him,” Lawrence said. “He’s the most competitive guy I’ve probably ever been against, for real, in practice. So it’s a joy, and in practice, it’s easy to lose that edge, but he helps you keep it. Just how much of a pro he is.”
“I didn’t give a damn what he was talking about. I probably make that tackle, but he’s yelling. It’s a positive football offense, but it’s situations that you work through, and you keep grinding and pushing each other.”
Lawrence is also going to make an impression on Joe Burrow as the Bengals continue to get ready for the 2026 season.
“I looked him in his eye a couple times. I didn’t say much,” Lawrence said. “I let him be the be the quarterback. But it’s good. It’s just a competitive spirit, and me doing that is going to help him get better, and him finding ways to get around me and throw the ball is going to help me get better. So it’s good to test all those situations here in practice and camps, and so in the game, it’s just second nature.”
Bengals Camp Day 1:
* Shemar Stewart carted off on second rep of second team DL series. Favoring his left leg. Training staff worked on flexing the knee before helping him into the cart with the leg fully extended. On the play, Joe Flacco completed a nice pass to the sideline to Charlie Jones.
* Intensity was there on Day 1. Ja’Marr Chase and DJ Turner got into it along with Jalen Davis. “Brothers fight” Turner said. Davis added, “We love each other, and that’s just what’s going to come out of it. And we’re just competing. We’re just competing both sides of the ball, offense and defense, and that’s the mentality both sides of the field would have.”
* Ted Karras and Dexter Lawrence II trash talked each other. Lawrence gave it to Karras on a Brown run through the line and Karras yelled “plus-6, plus-6” Lawrence’s reaction? “Just the competitive spirits of everybody. There’s a lot of alphas out there, and there’s a lot of guys that want it. We have one common goal, and we do we’re going to do whatever we can to reach it.”
* Isaiah Foskey came on when Stewart was injured and played competitively on the second unit.
* Cashius Howell, as he did in OTAs and minicamp, played a lot on the second team as an edge with Boye Mafe and Myles Murphy on each end.
* Ja’Marr Chase caught a perfect crosser on Burrow’s first pass of 11s. Also caught a sideline pass shortly after scrap with Davis and Turner.
* Tee Higgins was impressive, catching a sideline pass at full extension.
* Burrow and Joe Flacco both played under center and in the gun.
* Burrow noted there were no false starts and only a couple of motion mistakes, including one by Burrow. But a mostly clean Day 1.
* Burrow said his surgically repaired turf toe and foot “feels great”
* Day 2 is Thursday outside with pads coming on next Monday, the day after Sunday’s day off.
* Turner committed what looked like defensive pass interference on a deep post pattern to Andrei Iosivas, with safety Bryan Cook trailing the play.
