Bengals Beat: Orlando Brown Jr., Germaine Pratt, Akeem Davis-Gaither, Evan McPherson Among 8 Captains For 2024

CINCINNATI — There’s a fresh, new look to the roster of captains for 2024.

The Bengals voted eight captains Monday, including four first-timer leaders. On defense, Germaine Pratt and Vonn Bell join Sam Hubbard while on offense Joe Burrow and Ted Karras return while Orlando Brown Jr. joins for the first time.

Rounding out the group are first-time special teams captains Evan McPherson and Akeem Davis-Gaither.

“I think it’s a great group of eight,” Zac Taylor said. “There’s no number I usually put on it. A lot of guys got votes. You could make an argument for about 20. It was really impossible to whittle it down tighter than that. We had eight guys who were really qualified and I feel really good as they were nominated by their peers.”

What are the one or two most important responsibilities a captain has?

“You have to guide the locker room. There’s a lot of things that don’t make it to my radar because good captains take care of it before it gets to that point,” Taylor told me. “They are the voice of the team, so if there are issues that arise that myself and the coaches need to be aware of and fix, I’m very open to the communication of scheduling. Maybe we take a trip and it’s a unique day and I didn’t get the schedule quite what’s comfortable for everybody, usually the captains are the ones that bring that to my attention.

“They do a great job communicating during training camp even though there are no captains at that point, guys do a great job of that, a lot of the guys that were captains. So, there’s a whole wealth of responsibility. They also have to help grow the young players as well and turn them into veterans as quickly as possible because we need everybody on this roster, and so it’s really up to the captains to continue to groom guys at their position, their unit and the team because they are smart enough to know what we need from all these other guys and so that’s on their responsibility as well.”

You don’t always need to scream and yell as a captain. But you do need to get across your point with urgency and directness.

“You need energy. You certainly need energy at practice,” Taylor added. “It’s good when guys are willing to call others out in tough moments. ‘Hey, this isn’t acceptable. This isn’t what we tolerate. This isn’t our culture.’ I’ve seen that plenty over the years. It’s always been a good thing. Sometimes you just step back and let those guys handle it. Sometimes you got to step in. I think I have seen a lot of examples of that over the years.

Pratt believes he’ll be able to bring his own style to the defense. Orlando Brown is confident he’ll do the same on offense.

As for Evan McPherson on special teams, Zac Taylor says he leads through confidence and performance.

“You wondered where the special teams captainship would go,” Taylor said. “I think he’s confident, and the guys have confidence in him. That’s leadership. That’s quiet leadership. Evan’s not gonna sit up there and yell and scream at guys, but I think in it’s own way, that’s leadership.

“They are great at their position, they take responsibility for everything that’s on their plate – as a kicker in his case – and lead by example. So when guys trust that, they’ve got to do their jobs. That’s just a quiet form of leadership there.

Week 1 Starters:
Zac Taylor confirmed Monday what was long suspected in the Bengals secondary: Dax Hill will be the starting corner opposite Cam Taylor-Britt after a camp-long battle with DJ Turner.

“(Hill) just keeps competing. It was a great battle,” Taylor said. “It wasn’t a guy failed so the other one is the starter. It was two guys I really felt like getting the best out of each other. For Dax to be able to assume that responsibility I think is good. Doesn’t mean DJ is not playing, that there is not roles we have for these other guys. It’s a long season so guys got to be ready for their opportunity to come.so I am excited to watch him work.”

And with Amarius Mims a question mark for this week with a pectoral strain, Trent Brown will be the starting right tackle.

“We’ll manage that situation as we continue to go but with a rookie not practicing (Monday) certainly that would be a hindrance to starting a game,” Taylor said. “Trent has done a great job for us. We have managed him throughout this training camp. He’s a pro, he’s done a really good job throughout this training camp and so I am excited to watch him work.”

Chase day-to-day:
The closer the Bengals draw to Sunday and the opener against the Patriots, the more unlikely it is Ja’Marr Chase will play without a new contract. Chase was at practice Monday but not with a jersey on like the rest of his Bengals teammates.

“We’ll see. We’ll just take it day-to-day,” Taylor said.

The challenge for Taylor and offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher is putting together a game plan with and without Chase available.

“Yeah, we’re always ready,” Taylor said. “There are always injuries and things you have to deal with, so we’ll adapt to him.”

Taylor would also not commit to how much Chase would play if he indeed dresses up for Sunday.

“It’s impossible for me to say with 100 percent conviction, but I feel good about the shape that he’s in,” Taylor said.

The Bengals head coach also would not get into speculation as to what it would be like for Chase to try and play on short notice without the benefit of an active training camp.

“You’d have to ask those guys who have gone through it,” Taylor added.