Cincinnati Bengals Veterans React to Training Camp Switch-Up

Jul 26, 2024; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (75) cools off with water during training camp practice at Kettering Health Practice Fields. Mandatory Credit: Kareem Elgazzar-Imagn Images
Jul 26, 2024; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (75) cools off with water during training camp practice at Kettering Health Practice Fields. Mandatory Credit: Kareem Elgazzar-Imagn Images / Kareem Elgazzar-Imagn Images
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CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals announced their training camp scheduled today, and there is a notable change with the practices moving from late afternoon to the morning.

None of the veterans who were asked about the change were against it, but there wasn’t exactly fist-pumping excitement either.

“I’m cool with it,” defensive tackle B.J. Hill said. “Honestly, it doesn’t really matter to me. At the end of the day, you’re gonna get your work in.”

Hill said the Giants held morning camp practices when he played for them.

Geno Stone said he did both with the Ravens, with John Harbaugh changing the schedule year to year.

“The one thing about going in the morning is you really have to make sure you study the night before,” Stone said.

Since Zac Taylor arrived in 2019, the Bengals have practiced in the afternoon, either from 3-5 or, as was the case last season, from 2-4.

The day would begin with meetings, followed by a walk-through and then the practice.

This year, the Bengals will practice from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Meetings will follow, and then the walk-through previewing the next day’s practice will be 6-7 p.m.

While many of the players were lukewarm on the change, center Ted Karras threw his full support behind it for various reasons.

“You can get your physical work done and then have all day to adjust, be around the guys and learn. When you're install in the morning, you have that nervous energy for practice. You don't know if you're going to do well or not. So you're not as locked in. But when you practice in the morning and then watch practice, put that to bed and then get on to the next day with a no-pressure learning situation.”

There’s also the difference in morning and afternoon temperatures.

“In August, it can be as much as 8-10 degrees,” Karras said.

Linebacker Logan Wilson said the biggest benefit for him will be nutritional.

“One of the hardest parts in the past was our eating window was 12:15 to 1:15, so you’re trying to go eat a nice big meal and then go practice, and you're burping up your spaghetti or whatever you just ate,” he said. “It's a difficult balance, because you want to eat enough, but you don't want to eat too much. 

“Now we'll be able to eat breakfast, have plenty of time to digest, go practice, and then eat whatever you need to recover for lunch,” Wilson added.

Taylor knew those would be some of the benefits, but they weren’t top of mind when he decided to switch-up the schedule.

As he told the team website, it was just a matter of breaking routine as the Bengals look for ways to avoid their September stumbles out of the gate, where the team is 1-11 in Weeks 1 and 2 under Taylor.

“I think it will be good just to change it up,” Taylor told bengals.com. “A lot of guys have been through this routine before. As we get close to the season, we'll get more to the afternoon because that's where we'll play our games, at 1 o'clock in the heat.

"There's an element of that we want to prepare for as well. But I think it will be good to hit the grass early in the morning and get some good work done and then do all the above-the-neck stuff in the afternoon."

Asked about the schedule change after today’s minicamp practice, offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said the logic behind isn’t something he typically would support.

But this an exception that makes sense.

“I’ve never been somebody who’s a big proponent of change for the sack of change,” he said. “In this case, it’s not going to hurt. When you’ve been together for as long as we have, shuffling something that’s simple and inexpensive, that’s good.

“From a logistical standpoint, it can help with the heat. The players are probably happy,” he added. “From a coaching standpoint, it does affect how you prepare. You go from having a walk-through in the morning for an afternoon practice to having a walk through the night before to prep for a morning practice. The flow of your day and how you organize meetings and how you plan ahead, it does have a significant impact on that. I’m excited about it. We’ll see how it goes.”

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Jay Morrison
JAY MORRISON

Jay Morrison covers the Cincinnati Bengals for Bengals On SI. He has been writing about the NFL for nearly three decades. Combining a passion for stats and storytelling, Jay takes readers beyond the field for a unique look at the game and the people who play it. Prior to joining Bengals on SI, Jay covered the Cincinnati Bengals beat for The Athletic, the Dayton Daily News and Pro Football Network.