Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., two weeks removed from ending the season playing on a leg with two fractures, braved the Arctic temperatures to show up at Paycor Stadium this week as he seeks to repeat his monstrous offseason of last year.

As a bonus, Brown saw a familiar face not just passing through the Kettering Health Performance Center. Scott Peters, his new offensive line coach, had just signed his deal Monday morning, and it gave Brown another lift.

"I think he'll be good for us," said Brown, recalling the first time he met Peters when his line coach at Oklahoma, Bill Bedenbaugh, brought Peters to Norman work with the group.

At that point, about eight years ago, Peters, a former NFL guard-center, ran his martial arts gym in Arizona while preaching the use of hands and shoulders in offensive line play. The burden of pass protecting against the ever-growing field of athletic rushers had been demanding some kind of counter moves.

"It was the first time I had ever been exposed to the concept of independent hands in that kind of detail," Brown said. "It's what I use today, especially over the last year. It really helped develop my pass protection skills."

It's not a new concept. Bengals Ring of Honor member Willie Anderson popularized the low-hand-high-hand technique as the NFL's top right tackle at the turn of the century to combat the influx of speed rushers.

Peters went on the offensive line clinic circuit to teach about hands from a martial arts perspective. Brown says when he was in Kansas City, Chiefs line coach Andy Heck talked often about hand usage.

As did Frank Pollack, Brown says of the coach he is fond of and who Peters replaces. That's why he doesn't see he and his linemates struggling to learn a new scheme or slew of different techniques.

"I'm sure Scott has his own way of going into detail, but I don't think it's going to be much of an adjustment," Brown says. "It's really cool. It's unique, but I think we've got guys on our line who will find it beneficial."

Brown is impressed. Not only with Peters' devotion to technique, but to his regimen. Peters, 46, who played at 6-3, 300 pounds, has had two decades of firming up his body in the gym and in the ring training UFC fighters.

"He's swole up," said Brown in admiration. "It looks like he eats weights. Weight room guy. I think he's coming in with the right mindset."

Mindset is a big thing on, well, Brown's mind these days. Coming off what had been his best season in his first year as a Bengals captain before he got hurt, Brown knows every position group has to get better.

"We as an offensive line group just have to be a better source of energy for our team," Brown said. "You need that from your offensive line on a consistent down-to-down basis and draw it out."

Brown has wasted no time trying to get back to where he was when he got hurt during the Oct. 21 win in Cleveland. He points to staying in town to work with Bengals strength and conditioning coach Joey Boese’s staff last offseason as a big reason why he started off better than any of his four Pro Bowl seasons.

Although his leg doesn't need surgery, it's still healing. But he didn't want to take even another week of vacation as he eyes 2025 and his eighth season in the league. So, he has started with upper-body lifting.

"My leg is feeling much better. It's callousing over," Brown said. "I can't just sit around this time of year and not do anything. I've got to be doing something."