While Bengals head coach Zac Taylor dropped a bit of a bombshell to start his regularly scheduled press conference on Monday, he also addressed whether or not starters would play in Saturday’s second preseason game at the Chicago Bears and evaluated some performances from the first preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Taylor started his press conference by discussing a pectoral muscle injury suffered by rookie right tackle Amarius Mims that will keep him out for several weeks, but addressed several other topics, including the upcoming joint practice with the Bears in Chicago this Thursday.
We're live with Zac Taylor going into preseason 2 game week. https://t.co/ilSKo2lG8h
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“I think it’s just opportunity against different bodies, against different offensive and defensive schemes that we’re gonna have to go against,” Taylor said of the joint practice. “Different skill types that we’re gonna have to face at defensive line, at corner and conversely receivers and O linemen. Overall it’s just good to get as much work as we can, get different looks, see how our guys respond, see how some of our young guys respond. They’ll be long practices. They’ll be difficult practices. In some ways, harder than games would be just because of the way it’s structured without halftime or anything like that. I’m excited to watch these guys go compete.”
Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase continues to not practice as he deals with a contract situation, while defensive end Sam Hubbard continues to not practice due to a knee issue.
Rookie safety Daijahn Anthony did participate in practice despite have his nose broken against Tampa Bay.
“He’s got a – I think I’m phrasing this right – a nose fracture,” said Taylor. “He’s able to play, but obviously, you saw the blood gushing down and all of that. It was a real injury that I’m sure was quite painful, but it appears he’ll be able to practice and get through it with a visor and facemask and all that.”
Taylor wouldn’t commit to starters playing in the preseason game against the Bears, because they would be getting reps in the joint practice.
“Well in the practice, the 1s get more of the work, just the way they are structured, those groups get more of the, I think in some periods it’s five continuous reps and sometimes with the backups it’s three reps in a row,” said Taylor. “The 1s get a fair amount of work but it’s still good work for the other groups and there’s a lot to learn from. Then you go in the game and our backups will primarily play in the game.”
