PLAYER OF THE DAY: CB DJ Turner
For the second time in the first three practices of training camp Friday, Turner nabbed the coveted Bengals.com Player of the Day. But he still couldn't shake the nickname "Mr. PBU."
That stands for Pass Break Up, and it's the last thing a defensive back wants to record because it means he got his hands on the ball and didn't get an interception.
"Maybe," said Bengals cornerbacks coach Charles Burks, "if he had finished that last play for an interception, we wouldn't be calling him 'Mr. PBU.'"
Still, Turner, the Bengals' second-year, second-round cornerback, kept his big summer going with No. 1 cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt still out after getting his tonsils removed. With quarterback Joe Burrow getting a rest day and three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase watching again, Turner set his sights on two-time 1,000-yard wide receiver Tee Higgins.
Two of his three PBUs came against the monstrous 6-4, 219-pound Higgins in the end zone during red-zone work. The last one, in the right corner, bounced off Turner's hands as he won position.
"The thing that impresses me is the confidence he's playing with. He's got a lot of it," Burks said. "He's been a confident kid. He's had ups and downs and responded well. I don't think he'll ride waves. You can tell he's extremely hungry. He wants to be the best and go against the best like Tee."
Even though Turner bested him twice, Higgins looked a lot sharper than he did his first day back this year on Wednesday. After sitting out Thursday, Higgins came racing out of the gate on Friday's first snap in team drills, went over the middle, and hauled in a well-placed seed from quarterback Jake Browning.
Despite good coverage from cornerback Dax Hill, Higgins muscled the ball away from Hill with his signature physicality and ripped off Hill's helmet at the same time.
"I could feel him coming. Big and fast," Hill said. "I've got to take the next step. I had the coverage. I have to get the ball out."
PLAY OF THE DAY: CB Lance Robinson
Chase may not be practicing, but Robinson, his boyhood friend, knows he's watching.
"He has to," said Robinson, who has known him since they were about five years old in New Orleans and have remained friends, as well as with their families. "He says I'm doing well. He has to watch me."
What Chase saw Friday was Robinson, an undrafted rookie from Tulane, grab his second interception in as many days when he patiently waited for rookie safety Michael Dowell's infield fly-rule tip to come down.
"The reps I do get, they have to be perfect," Robinson said after practice. "Everything isn't going to be perfect, but chase excellence. Focus on my alignment and assignment. I feel like with my athletic ability, if I'm key sound I feel like I can make any play because I'm so athletic."
If Robinson sounds smart and aware, he is. Bengals scout Christian Sarkisian was attracted to his approach, football IQ, and "NFL athleticism."
Sarkisian was at the pro day when the 5-10, 185-pound Robinson popped a 4.43-second 40-yard dash while hearing many good things about him from inside the Tulane program.
"He was a leader there. He'd get those guys together and watch extra tape," Sarkisian said. "He never got flat out run by last season. Really productive player. He had four interceptions in the first seven games. He probably didn't get drafted because of his size, but he's got the competitiveness, makeup, and athleticism to make a little noise."
Robinson already turned on the siren Thursday with an interception. As he did on his pick Friday, he was playing man defense in the slot and when rookie Tre Mosley went in motion and tried to stutter past him on a go ball, Robinson stayed on his shoulder and made the catch instead in his stomach.
That shows you why Robinson chose to sign with the Bengals after the draft. He thought he was going to the Texans after they gave him a private workout and invited him in for a visit. But when the last day of the draft started, he heard from the Bengals for the first time ever.
He liked what they said because Burks told him he would play multiple positions, and Robinson likes it in the slot even though the last time he played it regularly was early in his college career at Kansas State before he played his last three years back home at Tulane. He thinks that is going to be his spot here.
"I feel more comfortable in there," Robinson said. "I'm going to run. I'm going to hit in there. I'm going to tackle. Being around the ball is going to help me a lot."
They haven't worked out much together this past year, but Chase's dad rustled up a dinner of steaks and burgers before they left together for Cincinnati during a trip back in the spring.
Chase also gave him something good to chew on.
"He told me to follow Mike Hilton and do what he does," Robinson said of the Bengals' slot all-star. "Mike Hilton is a great example. I definitely follow his lead. Ask him for any tidbits.
"(Hilton advises) be a situational master. Learn third -down routes are different than first-down routes. In the red zone, you're going to be attacked differently than if you're in the open field. If I have any questions, he answers so fast. That's a confirmation to me he knows what he's doing. If he can teach me, I'm good."
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Bengals CB Lance Robinson on his rookie role:
"My job is not to get scored on and get the ball back to Joe Burrow. Give him back the ball. And we'll be good."
SLANTS AND SCREENS: Amarius Mims, the Bengals' very impressive first-round pick, is trying to do what hasn't been done since the great Anthony Muñoz did it 44 years ago. The Pro Football Hall of Famer Munoz, the greatest left tackle who ever lived, they say, is the last Bengals rookie to start at tackle on Opening Day.
They have yet to meet. But Muñoz, the Bengals preseason TV analyst, was at practice Friday and pondered the advice he'd give him.
"My whole thing was even though I was a first-round pick, there was nothing guaranteed. That was my attitude," Muñoz said. "Practice and play like you've been starting. Show Coach your work ethic and mentality. Every rep you get, win. I hated to get beat.
"It helped I had Dave next to me," said Muñoz, nodding to longtime Bengals radio analyst Dave Lapham, his left guard for the first four years of his career.
Lapham nodded back, "You were the most humble rookie I've ever met. You took nothing for granted. You earned everyone's respect."
Lapham had the best seat in the house for that Sept. 7, 1980 opener against Tampa Bay at Riverfront Stadium as the 22-year-old dueled the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Lee Roy Selmon.
"They didn't say a word over there," Lapham said. "Silence. Two future Hall-of-Famers going at it. I remember one time we ran "17 and double-double," you could just see the look on (Selmon's) face like this was going to be a long day. I remember thinking, 'I can't wait to see this film.''' …
There were a couple of good post-practice vignettes Friday.
One featured cornerbacks coach Charles Burks running releases against cornerback Dax Hill, the converted safety. They were doing it in the red zone inside the hashes.
"That's where it's coming at you fast and you have to get your feet right," Hill said. "I feel good where I'm at out there, but the thing I'm working on is my feet." …
Safety Geno Stone, the reigning AFC interceptions leader who signed a two-year deal to join the Bengals in the offseason, had the ear of a pair of undrafted rookie safeties in Miami of Ohio's Michael Dowell and Southern Illinois' P.J. Jules.
It will be recalled that the Ravens took Stone in the seventh round out of Iowa in 2020 and he didn't become a regular until last season's break-out year.
"They kind of came in the same way I did," Stone said. "I was just telling them, don't go chasing plays. Just do your job. Be accountable. Be coachable. Get behind a guy who has developed into a special teams guy and figure out who that guy is because that's how you're going to make the team. I may look like a starter out there, but last year was really my first year. Just keep doing what you have to do and someone now or in years is going to need you." …
