Why Bengals' ‘Day 20' left one notable impression in defensive rebuild

New York Times

a day ago

CINCINNATI — Even in a world where offenses are almost always catching up to defenses in the early portions of training camp, the 2025 Cincinnati Bengals would serve as the most glaring exception to the NFL rule.
Joe Burrow and the headlining Bengals offense, returning major continuity and the most prolific passing game in football, taking the field in full stride, picking up where they left off in 2024.
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Then there's the beleaguered Bengals defense, new coordinator Al Golden, a largely new coaching staff, rookie starting linebacker, no Trey Hendrickson, no Shemar Stewart and many members of the historically poor 2024 group back for more.
This day, and every day, at Bengals training camp is expected to look like routes on air for Burrow.
That's not how things went for the offense. Burrow succinctly summed up how it went for the offense.
'Poorly,' he said, later admitting his view of the camp debut. 'They won the day.'
Nobody will be crowning Golden's boys anytime soon. Not even a little. Not after Day 1. But the impression left in delivering the first win of the season was that despite all the tumult, criticism and punchlines directed at this group, there's been a far different view bubbling up internally.
'An eagerness and hunger to be way better than they were last year,' veteran linebacker Logan Wilson called it. 'Guys were kind of defeated and realized that no one played to what we were capable of playing at.'
Wednesday served as the first opportunity to show it.
'So we were kind of pissed off,' Wilson said. 'Guys are coming out swinging. We had 19 practices in OTAs. We harped on today, it's not Day 1. It was Day 20. Continue to build and having that continue-to-build mindset individually and collectively is only going to help us get better.'
An energy and confidence were evident from the defense during OTAs. Cam Taylor-Britt made an interception of Joe Burrow, threw the ball in the air and talked trash. DJ Turner would knock down a pass and the celebration would immediately commence. That confidence was needed to beat the 'defeated' nature out of them.
That's where Golden's impact was immediately felt. Attacking the offseason program to eventually simplify the task for players and start emboldening an energetic young core was imperative.
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They made Day 20 possible. One where Taylor-Britt blanketed Tee Higgins to force multiple incompletions. Geno Stone perfectly disguised a blitz on Burrow to force a pass breakup by linebacker Oren Burks. Where second-round pick Demetrius Knight notably ranged sideline-to-sideline, even running down Ja'Marr Chase in the flat. Multiple times defenders would even unleash more contact than you'd expect, not backing down from physicality even as the team ramps up.
Bursts of celebration while sprinting to the sideline filled the day. Much to the dismay of an already smoldering Burrow.
'I thought they were really sharp today,' Burrow said of the defense. 'I thought their energy was great. And I think the defensive backs were playing really well, playing their leverages sticky and covered.'
There were moments where Burrow looked confused about where to go or was forced to scramble around for long periods. A direct product of the disguises that Golden had been working on and installing throughout the offseason program. To be able to pull them off already against a quarterback like Burrow caught everyone's attention.
'You can steal six-seven plays a game against another quarterback — and we are going against arguably the best — if we can confuse him a little bit, we are going to be able to confuse some other guys,' Wilson said. 'We're really harping on the disguises, and those will get some negative plays here or there.'
Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher called watching Golden work and implement his scheme this offseason 'inspiring.' As Pitcher enjoyed the continuity of a bevy of productive pieces all returning to join his All-World quarterback, he saw Golden grinding every detail to construct a path to Day 20 for this defense. A Herculean task considering the mess he inherited — one still notably challenging given the absence of his edge rushers.
'One of the most prepared, diligent coaches that I've ever been around, super detail-oriented,' Pitcher said. 'Just watching, really, Al and that whole staff kind of how they worked through the spring, there was a sense of energy and purpose with how they went about their job.'
The Bengals defense could still be a train wreck, of course. A July 23 performance will have minimal impact on where they rank on December 23. They may just not have enough talent or pass rush or depth or whatever. Time will tell.
Yet, a return to respectability always had to start with taking Golden's clean slate and painting a picture of belief. That can only start in one spot — exactly where it did Wednesday.
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Stone and Wilson separately noted the same thing when asked, seeing the belief not necessarily in any execution or anticipation or celebration that unfolded, rather the communication that transpired before each snap in comparison to last year.
'Everyone is lined up at the ready at the snap, and you don't see people pointing at each other,' Stone said. 'One thing I'll say about Al, he lets us run the defense. No prechecks or think about checks. Whatever you see out there, he lets us call what it is. Whatever it may be, if it is not the right thing, he'll come in here and we'll talk about what we all saw and why we played it how we did, and we'll correct it. But one thing he lets us know is we have full control of the defense. That is one thing I like. You can go out there, play fast, you don't have to worry about nothing. I feel like it showed today.'
Even on a bad day, the presiding thought would be Burrow should beat up this defense. Wednesday was a bad day that had the QB eager to hit the film to start correcting, but the defense won. For one day. It takes a lot of work for even that to be possible. That's progress worth noting.
'We'll take it,' Wilson said, 'but tomorrow is a new day.'
Day 21, to be exact.
(Photo of Al Golden: Frank Bowen IV / Imagn Images)