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Bengals Notes: Offensive Line Shuffle, Ja'Marr Chase's Pushups and a Kicking Competition

Here's the latest from training camp.
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CINCINNATI — The Bengals' search for their five best offensive linemen continued over the weekend. 

Rookie D'Ante Smith is the latest player to get a chance at guard. The 23-year-old lined up at left guard with the first-team offense on Saturday and Sunday. 

“He’s got the right intangibles,” Taylor said of Smith. “He’s a smart football player, and he takes the coaching and makes himself better. He takes the coaching from a week ago, he takes the coaching from a day ago, and he uses that to become a better player each day, and you reward that.

“My first interaction was at the Senior Bowl during that 18-minute meeting with him where he was really impressive,” Taylor added. “One of the things he laid out to you back then was his weight progression and what his goals were for his weight — and I still have my notes — he has hit every single weight progression he gave us for the season; the Senior Bowl, the combine, reporting for NFL, reporting for training camp, bam, he hit all of them. And so that just tells you he’s got that pro mentality.”

Smith is the latest experiment in an offensive line room that's desperate for someone to emerge. 

He played guard at the Senior Bowl and outside of a false start on Saturday, seemed to be comfortable after lining up at tackle for most of camp. 

“No, it didn’t surprise me,” Smith said of the move to guard. “This is what I assumed the NFL would be. You’ve got to be able to play multiple positions.

“I’m just trying to stay focused and get down the technique of everything so I can become a permanent. I’m just trying to focus on bettering myself right now instead of looking at it as an experiment.”

Smith needed to add weight if he was going to succeed in the NFL and he's done that over the past year. He currently weighs 320, which is 37 pounds heavier than he weighed at the start of the college football season last year. 

The youngster hired a nutritionist that put together a plan that has worked so far. 

“I had a scout give me a goal weight of what he thought I should be, and from there, me and a nutritionist worked out how I was going to get to that point,” Smith said. 

Now that he's reached his goal weight, he's hoping to earn one of the two starting jobs that are up for grabs with the regular season just five weeks away.

Smith appears to be ahead of second-round pick Jackson Carman, who's worked with the second and third-team offense for most of training camp.

Related: Zac Taylor Offers Up Big-Time Praise for D'Ante Smith

Ja'Marr's Pushups

Rookie wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase has flashed plenty of potential in training camp, but he's also had his fair share of drops. 

The 21-year-old cut across the middle of the field. Quarterback Joe Burrow threw him a ball that was a bit high, but it was a play that Chase should make. The ball hit Chase in the hands and flew up in the air before hitting the ground. 

Another drop. 

Chase landed on the grass and immediately did his pushups as punishment for the drop.

The rookie works on the JUGS machine everyday after practice. He didn't have many drops at LSU, but they've been consistent so far in camp. He's made big plays, but drops have been an issue. 

It's worth monitoring, especially since he hasn't played in a real game since Jan. 13, 2020.

More Offensive Line Troubles

Burrow tucked the ball and ran during 11-on-11 drills on Sunday. This was well received by the fans that were in attendance. They cheered for No. 9 in what was his first official scramble of training camp. 

The bad news is he probably would've gotten sacked in a real game. Sam Hubbard (94) nearly runs over right guard Michael Jordan (60). Burrow escapes, but it's not a good look for Jordan, who's been working with the first-team offense for the past few days. 

Kicking Competition

The Bengals focused on special teams for the majority of Sunday's practice. Darrin Simmons had the offense and field goal unit run through different late game scenarios. 

From making the field goal team run onto the field with the clock running down to needing to spike the ball to stop the clock before time ran out.  

Every drive ended with Evan McPherson Austin Seibert attempting a short field goal. 

McPherson was a perfect 3-for-3. He made two 33-yard attempts and a 35-yarder. Seibert finished 2-for-2, making back-to-back 36-yard tries. 

McPherson is clearly ahead in the competition, but Seibert has kicked well. 

Injury Updates

Trae Waynes did more work with the team on Sunday and should be ready to go on Tuesday. The team is taking it slow with their star cornerback. Trey Hendrickson's also expected to be back Tuesday. 

Larry Ogunjobi is making progress. He went through an intense workout on the rehab field on Sunday. 

For the latest Bengals' injuries, go here.

Make sure you bookmark AllBengals for the latest training camp news, including exclusive interviews, highlights and so much more!

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