So much for normalcy.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is getting discharged from the hospital Wednesday after undergoing an appendectomy instead of participating in the first practice of training camp on the Paul Brown Stadium practice field.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor isn't putting put a timeline on his return to the field (you hear everything from a week to two weeks) or the facility (expect any moment), but wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase has a few ideas.
"He's so tough, he's not going to talk about it at all," Chase said before practice. "He's going to come back in and act like nothing happened. That's just the type of dude he is."
Chase knows because he texted him Tuesday night to tell him he was thinking about him and hoped he was all right and Burrow said he was fine and just wanted to know what clothes Chase had bought him.
Apparently there's a story going around that Chase buys Burrow his clothes and drops him off at his house, but Chase says he has no idea where that story came from.
"He didn't even talk about (the injury)," Chase said.
Taylor says the practice script and the installation won't be impacted because the first two weeks are pretty much for installation. Just more reps for Brandon Allen with the ones and Jake Browning with the twos and he says Burrow won't fall behind in the installation.
_Last year Chase broke fellow LSU receiver and good buddy Justin Jefferson's NFL rookie record with 1,455 receiving yards. He saw Jefferson's quote that he's looking to grab 2,000 yards, which would be an NFL first.
"I hope he doesn't get it before me. That's all I hope for," Chase said. "I definitely have a shot at it. A hundred percent. If I need to call him and make a bet, then it's done. Then I'll do it."
He said the two were "just hanging pout in L.A.," and made a bet on touchdown catches, "but not yards."
"We like to out-compete each other and then talk trash with him online," Chase said. "That's the fun part of it."
_Chase just did a GQ photo shoot and he enjoyed it when the Bengals content team asked other players to imitate some of the pictures in the spread. He said Sam Hubbard did it best, but fellow receivers Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins were pretty good, too. He said his favorite look, pink pants and a Gucci suit, didn't make it …
_With free safety Jessie Bates III not here, rookie Dax Hill takes the first snap of camp in his spit and the man next to him, Vonn Bell, a veteran of nine playoff games, has some words of advice for him.
"Just Dax be Dax. Two different people. Just go out there and be you. Don't be anything else and do your job," Bell said. "He's like a sponge right now, soaking up a lot of information. Coachable. He wants to get better. He's got a natural feel for the game."
_Taylor said he expects La'el Collins (back) to be back for the season. Isaiah Prince, who started in the Super Bowl run, figures to get his snaps.
