Three Things to Watch for at Bengals Training Camp on Thursday and Friday

CINCINNATI — The Bengals resume practice on Thursday. It'll be their seventh training camp practice. Here are three things to watch for over the next few days:

Quarterback Competition

Trevor Siemian will take reps with the starters on Thursday and Friday. It's his chance to show Zac Taylor, Brian Callahan and the entire coaching staff why they signed him this offseason.

The 31-year-old entered camp as the favorite to win the backup quarterback job behind Joe Burrow, at least publicly. Jake Browning clearly has other plans. He's outperformed Siemian since Burrow went down with a strained calf.

The competition is far from over and Browning has spent more time with the starters. This is Siemian's chance to show how effective he can be when throwing to Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and Irv Smith Jr. on a regular basis.

Running Back Battle

Joe Mixon is the lead back, but who will fill the void Samaje Perine left behind when he signed with Denver?

The door is wide open for Chase Brown or Chris Evans to grab the job with Trayveon Williams expected to miss a few weeks with an ankle injury.

Brown brings a new dynamic to Cincinnati's offense. He could be a Giovani Bernard-like runner for the Bengals and a perfect compliment to Mixon.

He runs with speed and explosiveness, has shown good hands—but can he pass protect at a high level?

Is Evans ready to block for Burrow in key situations?

We'll start to get the answer to both of these questions over the next few days.

Expect Brown and Evans to get more snaps than normal with Williams out.

Impressive Rookies

The Bengals rookie class has impressed throughout training camp. Guys like DJ Turner II, Charlie Jones, DJ Ivey and Brown have flashed their potential.

Can they be consistent?

Turner and Ivey have been impressive against the Bengals' top wide receivers. Even when they get beat by Ja'Marr Chase or Tee Higgins, they're usually in good position.

Jones' route running is already NFL-caliber. He's gotten better and better over the past few weeks and is looking comfortable in the Bengals' offense.

I'll also be watching Myles Murphy, Jordan Battle and the rest of the rookie class. Both Murphy and Battle have gotten reps with the second unit.

Will Murphy move inside at some point? Is Battle going to get on the field with the starters or does Lou Anarumo want to make sure Dax Hill and Nick Scott get as many reps together as possible?

Those are other questions that we'll hopefully get the answer to in the coming days.

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