CINCINNATI — Amarius Mims has seen his fair share of massive defensive edges in his brief time in the NFL. What he sees in rookie Shemar Stewart is something else altogether.
Listening to Mims rave about Stewart’s athleticism after Sunday’s practice, you can understand why the Bengals held the edge out of Texas A&M in such high regard.
“Dude’s an athlete,” Mims told me. “He just does unnatural things that I’ve never see somebody who’s 21 years old do. I was in his shoes last year. I know the pressure that he’s gonna have to face this year. He just has to run through that door and hit it right in the face. We’re depending on him. I know he’s gonna do a great job.”
Mims has been going up against Stewart throughout the first nine days of camp and has been impressed with what he’s seen, to be sure. In an effort to ramp Stewart up for the preseason opener Thursday in Philly and to give him different looks, he’s be matched against second-team linemen as well.
Listening to defensive coordinator Al Golden talk about his versatility, you can see why the Bengals think this “unnatural” talent can play a big role on the defensive line right away. Golden clearly has been impressed with Stewart early in camp.
“Whether you agree or disagree, or whatever your philosophy is, or whatever your opinion was of Shemar, that player is rare, coming out of the draft, somebody that can come off the edge, one play, play in the B gap, two plays later, play in the C gap, set the edge, do multiple things,” Golden said. “It’s just rare, because you generally get guys that are 255 (pounds). But to get a guy 280 that can do that with that kind of power is rare, and we’re excited to have him.”
Indeed, Stewart has been getting first-team reps along the line and playing all three spots, edge, ‘B’ gap between guard and tackle and ‘C’ gap between tackle and tight end.
“It’s been good. He’s got to get into football shape. The tempo got him a little (Sunday), so he’s just got to keep working on that. We’ll get him some days off and get ready for Thursday night,” Golden said. “Overall he’s physical, he’s powerful at the point of attack. He plays with effort and energy and you feel his presence on the field.”
Stewart is set to make his Bengals NFL preseason debut Thursday night in Philadelphia against the defending Super Bowl champions.
Other thoughts from Golden on Sunday:
“It doesn’t help us if we have six corners and none of them how to play safety or nickel, right, or we have, you know, six ends, and none of them can go inside and play three technique or play a five technique in a different package. So I think we want versatility. We have multiple linebackers now that can play the edge, so it just makes us versatile without subbing.”
“I think performance is important. There’s a lot of jobs that are open right now. We have some positions that are heavy. Guys are competing. It’s a legitimate competition, which is important for them, its sincere. We want to see how it plays out. Yeah, it’s important. There’s all kinds of levels of players. There’s guys who were free agents or practice squad players, they are trying to make the roster or the practice squad. You have guys that have done that in the past, they are trying to be twos. The twos are trying to be ones. Ones are trying to solidify themselves as the best player on our team or best player on our defense or best player in the league. There is a progression there. We want to give everybody the opportunity to make that journey here in the next 30 days.”
“Well, I think they’re a confident group. They’ve got something to prove. We got something to prove they have an edge, and we got to go out there and do it again. So I don’t care who talks, who does what, but at the end of the day, you are what you put on film, you know? So if you’re talking and but you’re running to the ball or you’re diving around making plays, and then keep talking, you know what I mean? So I think it’s great that we have that attitude right now, and that’s a that’s an attack mindset, which is not easy to coach.”
“I don’t really change too much. I know I’m not exciting, but attack the ball, is really important. Give great effort when you are in there. Recognize the situations. We missed a situation (Sunday), that was disappointing. We went over it a bunch of times, we missed it. We got to learn from that. And then tackling. We don’t get many, these opportunities are like gold. We don’t get many opportunities to tackle. Whether it is space tackling, vice tackling. All the different techniques you learned will be tested, really, for the first time on Thursday night.”
“Man, he is so poised on the line of scrimmage. He doesn’t do anything fast. He tries to manipulate either the cadence, to see a skew of some skid, some kind of pre-snap tell. And he has so many answers. The one thing that is underrated is some of those balls, if you were here last night, some of those touch throws, the overs, just incredible throws. Guys are draped on (the receiver) and the ball can only be caught if it’s in one spot. So accuracy, command, he has answers and he’s just playing with a lot of poise. I can’t remember the last time we had an interception on him, and I think that’s the greatest compliment you can give a quarterback. Because the ball will go out of bounds or he’ll eat it rather than give up a big play. And you’ve got to be mentally tough to do that.”
“There’s only one standard. I told the guys I can’t wait. I terrorize Starbucks every day because I can’t wait to get here. I can’t wait for it to open. I can’t wait to drive down Columbia parkway and work with these guys and this staff. Come to a place that has the culture that Zac has build and the offensive talent we see every day. I can’t wait to get to work every day. That’s the standard. At the end of the day, what does that mean. When I go home, I’ve got to prepare. I have to do it in practice. I got to tackle well, disrupt the ball well ,know exactly what I’m doing in situations. That’s the standard. We’re developing that culture. We’re applying it on defense right now.”
Bengals Camp Day 9 Sunday:
* Offense with a strong day, Joe Burrow with several sideline routes to Tee Higgins and one fade to Higgins over DJ Ivey in red zone. (nullified by offense not allowing defense to sub fully).
* Amarius Mims played first three series of 11s before coming out for rookie Jalen Rivers at right tackle. Rivers played with the 1s for the rest of practice.
* Mims says he is nursing a right hand issue but says he could still be available to play Thursday night in Philly if coaches want him to.
* Mims says the run game is “100 percent better.”
* DJ Ivey got significant time with the 1s in the secondary as Dax Hill (load management), Marco Wilson (injury), Cam Taylor-Britt (general soreness) sat Sunday. Ivey had PBUs of Ja’Marr Chase early but was caught behind Chase when Chase dropped a deep route for a TD. Also played competitively against Higgins.
* Noah Fant continues to work in individual drills with no team reps yet in 11s or 7s.
* DC Al Golden with praise of Shemar Stewart and his remarkable ability as a rookie to play three position on DL, including edge. “He’s got to get into football shape. The tempo got him a little today, so he’s just got to keep working on that. We’ll get him some days off and get ready for Thursday night. Overall he’s physical, he’s powerful at the point of attack. He plays with effort and energy and you feel his presence on the field.”
* Al Golden on Joe Burrow: “Man, he is so poised on the line of scrimmage. He doesn’t do anything fast. He tries to manipulate either the cadence, to see a skew of some skid, some kind of pre-snap tell. And he has so many answers. The one thing that is underrated is some of those balls, if you were here last night, some of those touch throws, the overs, just incredible throws. Guys are draped on (the receiver) and the ball can only be caught if it’s in one spot. So accuracy, command, he has answers and he’s just playing with a lot of poise. I can’t remember the last time we had an interception on him, and I think that’s the greatest compliment you can give a quarterback. Because the ball will go out of bounds or he’ll eat it rather than give up a big play. And you’ve got to be mentally tough to do that.”
* Bengals off Monday, practice Tuesday, travel Wednesday. Game Thursday in Philadelphia.
