After leading last Sunday's fourth-down goal line stand that set the tone for the Bengals' victory in Carolina, prized rookie defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. has earned more playing time.
Jenkins, the second-round pick out of Michigan, debuted with 25 snaps last Monday night and followed it up with 22 more Sunday despite playing with a club protecting his surgically-repaired thumb.
"And he's showing that he can hold his own and do better. He'll get as many (snaps) as he can handle," said defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo Monday.
Although Jenkins is playing virtually one-handed, he's answered the call with both starting defensive tackles B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins missing the last two games with hamstring injuries. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said Monday it's been a learning process for the coaches, as well as Jenkins.
"There's a lot of trust there," Taylor said. "There's a lot of unknowns with him coming off the surgery and playing with the club and the more evidence that has shown up on the tape, the more it shows we can believe in him.
"It's not a matter of believing in him because he showed that during training camp. It's just a matter of how you're going to come off this surgery with the way he's got to use it right now. I think we've seen enough through two games to where he deserves a lot of opportunity."
It's the most definitive thing Taylor could offer Monday when talking about the state of his defensive line as they prep to face the Ravens and the NFL's most prolific rushing attack of the century and the decade this Sunday (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Local 12) at Paycor Stadium.
Taylor says when it comes to Pro Bowl edge rusher Trey Hendrickson (neck), who left with about eight minutes remaining Sunday, it's too early to tell if he can play this week. Same with Rankins and Hill. He does expect edge Myles Murphy (knee) and rookie defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson (knee) to begin work Wednesday to see how close they are to being activated.
They have a three-week window to practice, but can be activated at any moment. While Murphy got hurt late in his promising second training camp, Anarumo indicated it could take longer for Jackson, a third-round pick, to get into a game.
"Hopefully, (Murphy's) arrow will be up quicker than McKinnley's," Anarumo said. "McKinnley hasn't practiced since Aug. 8. He had maybe three padded practices. I hope he goes out there and is Reggie White on Sunday. It takes everybody some time.
"He's another willing soul. Wants to do everything he can. We have great expectations for him eventually, but he hasn't had any time to develop because he has done nothing but rehab since Aug. 8. We've got to get him in pads, striking the bag, getting off blocks, feeling what a double team feels like. All of that. And it's the Ravens."
JA'MARR JUBILEE
Three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had quite a day for just three catches. One was a 63-yard-pin-ball-wizard-catch-and-run touchdown that made history.
That moved him into a tie with Odell Beckham Jr. for nine career 60-plus-yard receiving touchdowns, most in the Super Bowl era before turning 25 years old. At 24 years, 212 days old, Chase became the fourth player under the age of 25 with 10 touchdown receptions of at least 50 yards, joining Randy Moss (14), Harlon Hill (12) and Beckham (10).
DAIJAHN DELIVERS
Rookie safety Daijahn Anthony had his play Sunday. Two weeks after he nearly sealed a win over the Chiefs with a pass defense that turned into a pass interference penalty, Anthony came back to quietly make one of the big plays in Carolina.
It looked for all the world like the Panthers, trailing 31-14 late in the third quarter, got another successful fake punt from veteran punter Johhny Hekker, hitting 60% of his 25 career passes for an 80.9 passer rating.
On fourth-and-three from his 35, Hekker floated a 15-yarder down the middle to wide-open tight end Feleipe Franks. Anthony left his responsibility and raced to tackle Franks as he came down with the ball, but Anthony knocked it out.
"They emphasized that a lot this week," Anthony said of the Hekker pass. "I was just trying to see where he was going to put the ball so I could hit it. But he tucked it. I wasn't thinking about a pass deflection. I just wanted to get him on the ground, and we live to fight another down. There was nothing I could do because I couldn't intercept it, so I was just aggressive.
"I'm not even thinking about that play. I'm just glad we won. That's all I'm thinking about. We got a win."
MESSAGE SENT
Bengals' No. 1 cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt got beat on some big plays early Sunday and Anarumo and cornerbacks coach Charles Burks didn't wait around.
Anarumo didn't want to call it a benching or a warning to other players. But speedy second-year man DJ Turner ended up in a rotation with the third-year Taylor-Britt and played 15 more snaps while Dax Hill played 91% on the other side.
"I thought Dax played a solid game. When we brought in DJ, I thought he played a solid game. Cam was a little bit erratic (Sunday). If you're not playing well, we're going to put somebody else in," Anarumo said. "Poor play can't be tolerated by anybody. Our guys have the right mindset. He handled it the way I thought he would. I was walking across the field to shake the other coach's hand and Cam beat me to it. Said that will never happen again and I trust and believe in him."
GOAL TO GO
One weakness from last year has proven to be a strength for the Bengals this year when it comes to their goal-line offense. Certainly, it was Sunday when running back Chase Brown’s first two NFL rushing touchdowns came from the 3 and the 1, and another touchdown came on Joe Burrow's one-yard swing pass to running back Zack Moss.
The run from the 3 was hugely impressive since it came on third down and reflected Taylor's growing confidence in the run game. Never before has Taylor used so many two tight-end sets during his six seasons as the head man and play-caller.
Actually, on the third-and-three in the scoreless game at the end of the first quarter, Taylor called it like he was in four-down territory, when "you're more apt to make that call."
Brown's second touchdown, from the 1, came on first down when Burrow hurried the Bengals to the line at the urging of Taylor in the headsets.
"They're a difficult goal-line team. The way they package things, it can make it tough," Taylor said. "We thought an advantage was to go hurry-up and knock it in before they changed personnel packages.
"It was a great example of really being on the same page in the hurry-up. Ja'Marr was on the front side, (wide receiver Andrei Iosivas) was on the back side. Everyone was blocking their gap on the dive play and there was a lot of attention to detail. That takes a lot of pressure off the quarterback in the pass game down there in the low red."
Chase blocked it perfectly because it left Brown with one man to beat.
Taylor had to laugh about his quick call to Burrow to hurry it up.
"There are times he's got the freedom with one word," Taylor said. "If he was doing that, he probably would have thrown it."
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