CINCINNATI — The Bengals wasted no time putting first-round pick Shemar Stewart through the ringer Sunday.
In the final practice before pads go on Monday, the Bengals held their fourth practice on another oppressively humid day on the Kettering Health practice fields.
Stewart, just hours after signing his $18 million fully guaranteed rookie deal, took part in all individual drills for defensive linemen before seeing about 10 live snaps in 11-on-11 practice, starting out on the second-team defensive line before moving up and going up against Amarius Mims and the first team.
There was a lot that happened between the time the Bengals drafted Stewart in April and his signing of the contract on Saturday. But after the details were finally worked out, Stewart made it clear Sunday he has no regrets about the way Hiller handled things.
“It’s life. There’s always going to be some people talking bad about you,” Stewart said. “What are you going to do about it? I’m here to work, I’m fully locked in. No distractions. I can’t wait to put on for you all this season.”
As for the public perception that he was getting bad counseling from his representation, Stewart feels that’s just part of doing business in the NFL.
“I mean, in my opinion, I feel like I want an agent that’s more of a pit bull,” Stewart said. “I don’t want an agent that can easily be pushed over. I want someone that’s going to war (for) me. So I don’t have to do any of the hard work behind the scenes. In terms of that, I think Zac is a great agent. He handles business very well, that’s my dog for life.”
Stewart said he was very grateful for the support of his teammates as he worked through his business.
“Some people can see it as being ungrateful but like people understand it’s a business first of all,” Stewart said. “You gotta make sure your business is handled first before you get on the football field.”
Once he got on the field Sunday, he showed bursts of speed in backside pursuit, the ability to fight through some double and triple teams that the Bengals hit him with, including on his first snap in 11s when three different offensive linemen put helmets on him, a “welcome to the NFL” moment of sorts. Trying to cool off in the intense heat, Stewart even accidentally poured Gatorade in his eyes thinking it was water.
One thing that is clear is that Stewart had to battle through his own thoughts and demons while waiting for a deal to be worked out.
“Oh yeah, boy, I was in the I was in a dark space for a little bit, not talking to anybody, just chilling with myself, but I gotta get up and do, I mean, I can’t just sit there and cry about it. Gotta get there.”
Stewart said he stayed hopeful by talking to other players who were waiting to make their rookie debuts.
“Not specifically anybody here, but like my friends and like from college, like (Walter Nolen), Nic (Scourton), I text those guys, see how they’re doing, see if their mental is good,” Stewart said. “Transitioning could be hard on the mental, especially when things ain’t going your way at first. So, it’s always good to check on them.”
In the end, Stewart believes the tradeoff in contractual language the team is getting vs. getting on the field and getting paid was worth it.
“I just feel like we came to a good compromise,” he said.
Both Zac Taylor and Stewart said Sunday there will be plenty of time for him to ramp up and be ready once the season begins.
“Improve every day. Just like any rookie, be a consistent guy and don’t make the same mistake twice,” Taylor said. “We know there are going to be some mistakes. There are going to be some install overloads early in the process. It’s just making sure, ‘OK, I made a mistake on this, and I’m going to make sure it’s corrected and I’m better at it.’ He’s got plenty of time. It’s good to get him now when we can, because we haven’t put pads on – we put pads on tomorrow. He’s got seven practices before our first (preseason) game.
“It’s good. Get back in here, get him acclimated. It’s great just to get him in individual (drills) and the fundamental stuff. We got him some reps. He probably got over 10 reps in there. We’ll watch the tape and keep building from there. But again, it’s just good to get out here Day 1 and get him back acclimated with the team.
The primary objective?
“Just get him out here and get him going with our fundamentals and with Jerry (Montgomery) and all the things we’re teaching,” Taylor said. “(Monday) we get the chance to put the pads on, to get a chance to feel what that feels like again. It’s just good to go full speed with him.
Other updates from Taylor:
On Lucas Patrick, who left practice early on Friday:
“He’s gonna be a couple more days. And that’s unfortunate. Right now we’ve got Matt Lee, and hopefully we start working him in there in a couple more days. Lucas Patrick is kind of on the same timeline.”
On defensive back Marco Wilson:
“He’ll be week to week.”
On the offense’s efficiency on Sunday, with Joe Burrow and Jake Browning:
“I thought it was really sharp. And right now we’re focused on the whole unit not turning the ball over, protecting the ball. We had a ball on the ground, we had a ball that was a turnover, so whether it’s ones, twos or threes right now, that unit is a whole and we’re going to go into these preseason games as the Cincinnati offense. So we’ve got to do a better job protecting the ball all the way around.”
Bengals Camp Day 4 Takeaways:
* Joe Burrow best day so far with no balls hitting the ground in the first hour and a half. First incompletion was a throwaway on the sideline on a scramble.
* Isaiah Williams with a terrific diving catch of a ball to the sideline on a short-yard play in 7s.
* Shemar Stewart was thrown right into the fire on Sunday, going about 10 reps with the first and second teams.
* Stewart played both edges and inside on goal line D.
* Cam Taylor-Britt is day-to-day with “soreness”
* Marco Wilson is “week to week” with an unspecified issue.
* First day of full pads on Monday.
