Bengals News (8/17): Young rushers paying early dividends

The Bengals brought in a myriad of young pass rushers who already have been playing well.

Bengals Darius Hodge enjoyed a breakout game against the Buccaneers
Darius Hodge exploded unexpectedly into the iPads of the Bengals coaches in late March, much the way he exploded in Saturday night’s 19-14 victory over the Buccaneers with 1.5 sacks and five hits on Tampa Bay’s parade of quarterbacks.

Camp Notebook: D’Ante Smith steps up on the Bengals offensive line, Joe Burrow sizzled in practice
If you had gone to Tampa Friday predicting Tom “The GOAT,” Brady would have taken just six snaps and still been sacked by the defense with the fewest sacks in the league last year while the Bengals offensive line that gave up the third most would have blanked the Super Bowl champions, you might have been committed.

Game Preview: Cincinnati Bengals at Washington Football Team, Preseason Week 2, Friday, August 20, 2021
The hot topic entering this week’s game is whether or not Bengals QB Joe Burrow will see game action for the first time since last year’s season-ending knee injury, which incidentally happened at FedExField. Burrow was medically cleared in time to take the first snap of training camp on July 28, and has participated fully in every practice thus far (save for one scheduled rest day).

Breaking Down The Bengals 2021 Roster After The First Preseason Game
Especially for a defense that saw its blueprint, morphing together with the dollar signs of free agency and the projections of the draft room, come to life in Saturday night’s 19-14 victory in Tampa. Built in the shadow of a three-year stretch they’ve allowed the most rushing yards in the league, the Bengals stoned the Bucs on 29 yards rushing with a cast of relatively new characters that limited Tampa to just 159 total yards.

Evan McPherson gets a Matt Prater comparison from Bengals coach
“He’s a weapon.” Callahan said, according to Mike Petraglia of CLNS media. “You cross the 50, you’ve got a chance to put points on board. For those who like kicking battles, we’ve got a good one.”

Joe Burrow won’t play in second Bengals preseason game
Burrow sat out the team’s preseason opener against Tampa on Saturday and Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said on Monday that he will sit out this Friday’s game against Washington as well.

4 Cincinnati Bengals player bandwagons to hop on before its too late
Cincinnati already has a few names that are household names to anyone who watches the NFL (Joe Burrow, to name one) and several others that are prominent among Bengals fans as the team gears up for the 2021 season (Joe Mixon, Tee Higgins). That being said, there are some names that need to be identified as potential breakout stars on this team.

Cincinnati Bengals: How many games does Zac Taylor need to win?
Zac Taylor’s first two seasons as the Cincinnati Bengals head coach has been marred by difficulty. The first season he took over a team whose quarterback’s best years were behind him in Andy Dalton. The defense wasn’t the same defense that Marvin Lewis had helped cultivate in his tenure.

Cincinnati Bengals waive three players ahead of cut-down day
No surprises on the first wave of cuts as the Bengals trim some names off the back end of the depth chart at strong positions. If the team liked what it saw before cut downs, players let go could always be brought back on things like the practice squad.

Around the league

Jacksonville Jaguars release QB-turned-TE Tim Tebow
The Jacksonville Jaguars have released tight end Tim Tebow, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday, per a source. The former quarterback hadn’t played in the NFL since the 2012 season and returned upon the hiring of Jaguars coach Urban Meyer, who coached Tebow at the University of Florida.

NFL’s 30 best players over 30 entering 2021 season
Not only did every player move at least one spot up or down, but some traveled significant distances, while others fell off completely. Others made the list for the first time, either because they were not eligible heading into 2020 (those players are marked NE) or just were not ranked (NR). In fact, nearly half of the players listed below (13) are completely new.

Frank Reich: Colts ‘feel good about where’ Carson Wentz, Quenton Nelson are at in rehab process
With both Wentz and Nelson undergoing the same foot surgery two weeks ago, and each having a broad 5-12 week recovery timetable, the Colts are waiting to see how the start of rehab goes to get a better idea of how much time they’ll be out.