The Bengals: Biggest Takeaways Before Training Camp Begins
John Sheeran breaks down everything Zac Taylor, Duke Tobin, and Al Golden had to say before the Bengals officially open training camp. From roster expectations to position battles and the team's mindset entering the 2026 season, John covers the biggest headlines fans need to know.
Video Transcript
A Cincinnati tradition took place Monday, mock turtle soup.
And if you don't know what those three words mean and you're a Bengals fan, well, let me be the first to tell you, it is the unofficial start to the Bengals season.
I'm John Shearer of A to Z Sports Cincinnati.
This is A to Z Sports Cincinnati, covering your Cincinnati Bengals as they, in their own way, kickstart training camp for the 2026 season.
That's right, guys, it is finally here.
Training camp officially starts Wednesday morning, a day after veterans officially report to training camp.
Rookies officially reported on the 25th, this past weekend.
The Bengals officially placed two of their players on injury list before training camp gets underway.
B.J.
Hill is on the physically unable to perform list as he's recovering from a foot injury, and rookie tight end Josh Kadus is on the non-football injury list as he's recovering from an injury he suffered back during his college days, or maybe it's at some point outside of the off-season workout program this off-season.
But before training camp begins, there is a tradition every year inside Paycor Stadium in which the main members of the Bengals brass, the front office, and the coaching staff, they all take questions and basically recap the off-season that was.
It's an annual media luncheon in which the journalists and the reporters on site get served mock turtle soup for lunch.
A key difference between this year's media luncheon and years past is that team president Mike Brown didn't actually speak to the media at all.
He was still there to present the Paul Brown Excellence Award for a local high school coach as he does every single year, but the guy's 91 years old.
Apparently, his hearing is not as good as it used to be, so they're just not having him take any questions in this setting anymore.
I'm sure there will be maybe other instances in the near future in which he can take questions, but unfortunately, the owner of the team is not there to talk about the off-season, which, whatever.
But regardless, Duke Tobin, director of player personnel, and head coach Zac Taylor were there, along with some other coaches, and they had some things to say about the team as training camp is underway.
Naturally, when there are contracts to be signed or negotiated in the near future, director of player personnel Duke Tobin is the guy to talk to if Katie Blackburn is not available, and she did not speak at this event.
So it was Tobin to talk about potential contracts for D.J.
Turner, Dax Hill, and Chase Brown.
Miles Murphy, I don't believe, was asked about because he's set to play on his fifth-year option.
It doesn't sound like they are actually negotiating an extension with him before the season begins.
I think that's a mistake.
I think that's a risk in case Murphy does ball out this year and es- essentially exceeds whatever value the Bengals have him, and maybe that leads him to a predicament next off-season.
But it, it sounds like D.J.
Turner, Dax Hill, and Chase Brown are the three that they feel like they could get an extension with, or at least they're trying to get an extension with over the next six weeks.
If you do know Tobin, though, you know that he doesn't like to address these things publicly or give updates on how negotiations are going.
He likes to keep all that close to the vest outside of the media circles, and he likes for the other side, the player's representation, to, to do the same thing.
He doesn't like all that stuff being, put out there into the media sphere for us to, you know, do what we do.
So he didn't give any positive or negative updates about the ongoing contract negotiations with Turner, Hill, and Brown, but he also said that he expects all of them to show up for training camp and participate in practice and not conduct any hold-ins or any holdouts.
Notably, the last couple of years, Ja'Marr Chase was present for training camp, but he was just on the sidelines in a hat.
Trey Hendrickson was essentially away from the team entirely and, you know, incurring fines and everything like that.
And obviously, Chase got his extension the year after he conducted that hold-in.
Trey Hendrickson got his contract compromised, if you want to call it that, at the end of training camp.
There's been no signs that neither Turner or Hill or Brown are going to do anything other than just practice and let the negotiations happen behind the scenes and let that all take care of itself.
I think notably with Turner, he made some comments towards the, you know, around the off-season workout program around that time about just participating and showing up and just focusing on making sure that this season is his best yet.
So tho- those were his thoughts back in June.
I don't imagine things have changed unless negotiations internally have kinda gone sideways, and maybe he isn't feeling as good about his long-term future here as he once did.
But again, all that is speculation.
Tobin said the expectation is that all of these guys are gonna be practicing and participating, but that wasn't exactly the same thing that Zac Taylor said.
When asked the same question about all three players, Taylor said that he does anticipate all three of them to practice, but he also wanted to reiterate once they all get onto the field and training camp gets underway, then they'll see how it takes course and, but again, the assumption is that all three of them will practice and participate.
I think that is Taylor doing his best to keeping the door open in case unexpected developments happen in terms of these guys maybe taking some days off, preserving themselves.
Maybe they go down with minor injuries and they don't want to push through because of the contract negotiations at hand.
I think Taylor's been through enough of these to where he doesn't want to make any sort of promises or guarantees with any of these guys because these situations are definitely fluid and things can change.
Feelings can change as well.
I think it's fair to say that all three of them are going into th- to this training camp with good mindsets, and all three of them were active participants during the off-season workout program, and there was just no signs or indications that there were gonna be any of these distractions that Bengals fans are very much accustomed to at this point in the year 2026.
But again, things can change, and I think Taylor is doing his best to make sure that if something unexpected does happen, he doesn't put his foot in his mouth like he did really towards the beginning part of his tenure here in Cincinnati.
The great news for Taylor is that he is going to have tight end Eric Gall to start out at training camp.
He's fully cleared to practice.
He was not placed on any injury list, and that was the expectation as an active participant during the off-season workout program.
Didn't seem like there was gonna be any sort of setbacks, and Eric Gall was moving really well during the early stages of the off-season.
So He's all clear to practice.
Duke Tobin did mention, though, that there's gonna be some sort of a progression plan in terms of just getting him back up to speed.
Obviously, this is when full pads come out in the early parts of camp, and again, like, it, it is a process of getting reacclimated to that aspect of the game.
It's something that Ol hasn't really been accustomed to, of just being around since his rookie season a couple of years ago.
Remember, he had a double ACL surgery to completely repair and rebuild almost his knee after re-tearing the same ACL that he tore back in, 2023 when he was still in college at Iowa.
But again, Eric Gol will be out there first day of camp.
BJ Hill will not.
Josh Kadus will not.
Rookie center Connor Loo will be out there as well.
He was recovering from a torn ACL from his last season in college last year at Auburn.
It caused him to miss the entire pre-draft process, and ultimately is what made him fall all the way to the fourth round of this past draft.
But he will be an active participant in training camp, and that is phenomenal news.
So right now, I would say it's good news for defensive coordinator Al Golden to have both of his starting cornerbacks, DJ Turner and Dax Hill, on the field when camp begin.
I think it's notable for Hill.
Zac Taylor said that, "We absolutely want him to play on the outside at outside cornerback," so any sort of speculation about him potentially being a nickel back this year with Dakario Davis, the third-round pick, starting on the outside, and with the competition in the slot with Jalen Davis and everyone like that, no.
Dax Hill is on the outside.
That's where he thrived at the end of last season.
It's honestly what makes him a prime extension candidate in the first place, because the Bengals now have a position in which they know Hill can succeed at, and he's still only 24, 25 years old.
So Dax Hill's on the outside.
That's good for Al Golden to know.
And it sounds like, according to Golden and other coaches, that the leader in the clubhouse right now for the starting slot cornerback job is Jalen Davis, and that was expected considering he did start a handful of games last year, and he looked fine in that role.
But it is going to be a competition nonetheless between Jalen Davis, Jahsir Taylor, a free agent to sign back in March, and Bralon Lux, a second year former undrafted free agent.
All in all, as expected, this was a relatively mundane mock turtle soup this year because there's just not as much drama surrounding the Bengals right now.
The biggest contract questions involve two of the starting cornerbacks and the starting running back, but all those deals should be able to be reached before the regular season arrives.
And if not, they have contingencies for those positions in terms of the future.
Maybe not running back necessarily, but regardless, it is a less than highly valuable position.
And typically, before camp even begins, we would get some sort of inkling that there were gonna be some holdouts or hold-ins that would occur.
Again, Taylor is keeping that door open, but it doesn't sound like they're gonna be that big of a deal.
I think the entire locker room is very much locked in on making sure that they're all present and ready to go when week one arrives, 'cause the pressure is on all throughout that building.
And if you're a fan who's curious about potential free agent additions before the season begins, a la Noah Fant, Don Risner at maybe linebacker, cornerback, or offensive tackle, it sounds like for at least two of those spots, the cornerback and offensive tackle, they're gonna be monitoring how that depth performs throughout the training camp and just to see what they have first, and that's very much expected.
That's very much Bengals coded, if you will.
Just to give those guys chances and opportunities and reps throughout camp, allow them to prove themselves within the system and see how, you know, the ebbs and flows of training camp go for those spots.
But, you know, guys like Cody Ford, DJ Ivy, Josh Newton, Javon Foster, a guy who was on the practice squad all last year at offensive tackle, they'll be given chances, and they'll be given chances to prove themselves.
And if not, I'm sure that they will look at alternative options on the waiver wire or the free agent market.
But guys, I'm so excited for training camp to finally be here.
We're gonna do some training camp recaps, reports.
Tomorrow, we're gonna go through my pre-training camp 53-man roster breakdown, so make sure to not to miss that.
Subscribe, hype the video, like the video, comment down below what contract you think the Bengals will be able to knock out first before the season arrives between DJ Turner, Dax Hill, and Chase Brown, and anything else you want to know about as training camp is finally here for the Cincinnati Bengals.
