This has been the training camp of the big leap from rookie year to year two, and two of the best examples came up big Thursday during the last Bengals practice before Saturday's (7 p.m.-Cincinnati's FOX 19) preseason opener against the Buccaneers at Paycor Stadium.
Cornerback DJ Turner II, who has been around the ball so much this camp that the team stuck him with the nickname 'Mr. PBU,' finally got them off his back with an interception of quarterback Joe Burrow.
Burrow's been on point lately, but Turner got him Thursday. Turner was clamped on wide receiver Trenton Irwin on third-and-long, running down the right sideline. When Burrow had a rare overthrow, Turner was in such good position ahead of Irwin he just had to turn and catch it. "Mr. PBU" stands for Pass Break Up, and, although they keep them as stats, defensive backs count them as interceptions they should have had.
"I needed that. I needed that," said Turner, racing back to his teammates with the ball.
Later in the locker room, Turner reflected on the emotion.
"I've dropped too many. We're going to retire that because I don't like that," Turner said. "When you have 9 at quarterback, you have to be ready for anything. He took a shot, so I just played the top … See the ball, catch the ball. That's all that was in my head. …. Mentally, I needed that."
Turner can feel the juice of a defense that has attacked camp with the urgency of a unit that dipped in the league rankings last season.
"We've got momentum, confidence. A lot of energy. We're all on the same page," Turner said.
Meanwhile, wide receiver Andrei Iosivas, who poured his offseason resources into coming into training camp faster and stronger, had another touchdown catch in his bid to get on the field more regularly with wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Iosivas saw a plethora of reps during camp, with Chase yet to practice and Higgins sitting out Thursday after wrecking Wednesday's practice. He's not only had plenty of run at Chase's X spot all camp, but he's also benefitted from what Chase and Higgins never had: this long of a training camp with quarterback Joe Burrow.
Head coach Zac Taylor thinks Burrow's presence is helping everybody, not just Iosivas.
"We've gotten a lot of good, unscripted move-the-ball. More than we've had in the past," Taylor said before practice. "That helps because last year, when you don't have your starting quarterback, and this isn't anything against (backup) Jake (Browning), you know Joe's going to be back for that first game. So you're trying to keep everything moving around and then catch him up when he inserts back. And now you don't have to think about any of that."
The stellar play of this year's draft class has been another camp highlight: from Mount (Amarius) Mims, the massive first-round 6-8, 350-pound right tackle from Georgia who moves as if he's 100 pounds lighter, all the way to seventh-round pick Daijahn Anthony, the Ole Miss safety with three interceptions in the first nine practices who's already running with the first-team dime package.
Taylor didn't wait around and coddle them, either, they had to sink or swim with his supersonic plan to get off to a fast start next month.
"In a lot of ways, it's a difficult camp for a lot of our young players, particularly on offense because we're (going) lightning speed, moving ahead to where we've been in seasons past," Taylor said. "There's a lot of catchup that those guys are doing. And they're improving every single day. But it is a lot. It's not your traditional, 10 years ago, Day 1 of training camp, where we're just going to cover formations and base. We've skyrocketed past that. It stresses the position coaches, probably, a little bit, to get the young guys up to speed because there's a lot to cover, and we're not slowing down for anybody. But they've done a good job getting those guys up (to speed.)"
Veteran slot cornerback Mike Hilton spoke highly of fifth-round pick Josh Newton — a cornerback who has slid inside and out and has been mixed in with the Ones at various junctures — and his thoughts reflect on the whole class.
"He's not one of these rookies thinking they know so much," Hilton said. "He's willing to learn and take advice from guys like myself. We expect a lot from him this year."
_Intrepid Bengals radio voice Dan Hoard sent along the play of the day. Browning rolled left on the goal line and cleverly backhanded a shovel pass to Irwin for the touchdown.
_Turner and linebacker Logan Wilson offered positive feedback after they got off Paycor's new turf for the first time.
"A lot different than last year," Turner said. "Soft. You can tell when it's new."
_Wide receiver Charlie Jones, another one of those leapers from rookie to sophomore who was having a productive camp, got carted off the field after a play in seven-on-seven. He caught a pass, turned up field and went down. Judging from some of the smiles and jokes relayed from the locker room, they were hoping it wasn't significant.
