CINCINNATI BENGALS (9-8)
OPEN CAMP: July 23, Kettering Health Practice Fields, Cincinnati
LAST YEAR: The Bengals went 4-3 to finish the season with Jake Browning throwing up impressive numbers — 12 touchdowns compared to Joe Burrow’s 15 in the first 11 games — after the QB1 was lost to a wrist injury in Week 11. Cincinnati stayed in the playoff conversation into December but the Bengals were squeezed out because of back-to-back road losses to the Steelers and Chiefs in which they totaled 28 points.
KEY ADDITIONS: TE Erick All, S Vonn Bell, OT Trent Brown, WR Jermaine Burton, TE Mike Gesicki, OT Amarius Mims, NT McKinnley Jackson, DT Kris Jenkins, DT Sheldon Rankins, S Geno Stone
KEY LOSSES: CB Chidobe Awuzie, WR Tyler Boyd, RB Joe Mixon, DT D.J. Reader, S Nick Scott, TE Irv Smith, DT Josh Topou, OT Jonah Williams
CAMP CHECKLIST: Offensive coordinator Brian Callahan left to become head coach of the Tennessee Titans. There’s no change in head coach Zac Taylor’s system and WRs Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins (playing this season on the franchise tag) are back. Keeping Burrow healthy is top priority. He missed most of camp last summer with a calf injury and then was lost for the majority of the final two months of the regular season with the wrist injury. There’s a new backfield mate to get accustomed to with Joe Mixon in Houston. Former Colts RB Zack Moss and second-year back Chase Brown are likely to share time. Shaking out the pecking order at a few other positions — defensive line and wide receiver to name two — behind the established starters is an end-of-camp goal.
2024 EXPECTATIONS: Burrow is blunt assessing the Bengals’ outlook and expectations as Super Bowl or else. Cincinnati is only one season removed from the AFC runner-up finish to the 2022 season, where Burrow and his boys took it to the Chiefs in the regular season but lost in a heartbreaker, 27-24, in the AFC title game. They’re two full seasons removed from the Super Bowl loss to the Rams, 23-20, at the end of the 2021 season.
PRESEASON SCHEDULE:
vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 7 p.m. ET, Saturday, Aug. 10
at Chicago Bears, 1 p.m. ET, Saturday, Aug. 17
vs. Indianapolis Colts, 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, Aug. 22
–Field Level Media