'A Lot In' - Bengals Defensive Install Timeline Revealed as 2026 Training Camp Continues

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer attended Bengals training camp this week and gained some insight into when the defensive install is slated to wrap up in the second season of Al Golden's defense.

Cincinnati has new starters at nearly half the positions on that side of the ball. The whole unit is trying to climb out of the NFL's yards-per-play-allowed basement and more.

Breer detailed the whole process on Saturday morning.

"The defense, like the offense, has a lot in—the install for DC Al Golden’s unit should be complete next week," Breer stated. "And a big part of that is how much the Bengals like what they have up the middle, and well beyond just Lawrence and Co. Second-year off-ball linebackers Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. played a lot as rookies, took their lumps, and have benefitted. Both look like they’ll take sizable Year 2 jumps, and the command each has at the line of scrimmage has exceeded expectations.

"Then, you have Bryan Cook coming over from Kansas City to pair with Jordan Battle, giving the defense two whip-smart communicators at safety, unlike anything they’ve had since Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates III departed. There’s obviously some growing still needed as the group gets used to playing with each other. Still, they can clearly handle and disseminate information in a way that should make the group more versatile and difficult to play against."

Cincinnati got some nice work in around the rain at Paycor Stadium on Friday night. Joe Burrow completed a big deep ball to Ja'Marr Chase, while Dexter Lawrence II actually got to Burrow once and ended up making contact with him on a would-be sack.

Both sides are trading punches as the defense has appeared to win camp so far by a slight margin.

More balance is a great thing for the Bengals as Jonathan Allen and the defense keep morphing into the contending unit they want to be.

"It's been awesome," Allen said about getting to know his trench running mate. "I think the biggest thing is we have a room full of unselfish guys who are genuinely working towards the same goal. And whenever you have that, it's always going to be easy for guys to pick up the pace and kind of play well early on. So D-line's one of those positions that already is kind of easier to get the gel flowing a little bit sooner than other positions. So it's been going really well so far."

Check out the full piece from Breer here.

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