DJ Turrner II Notes Unique Recovery Method That's Helped Him Rise in Bengals' Secondary

Bengals star cornerback DJ Turner II is loading up for his fourth NFL season this fall and continuing to utilize a key mind-building weapon to win his coverage matchups.

He appeared on NFL Spotlight this week with Ari Meirov and spoke about the positive impact meditation has had on his game since adopting it during his young NFL career.

Blank Mind, Busy Play

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback DJ Turner II (20) breaks up a pass to Buffalo Bills wife receiver Keon Coleman (0) in the second quarter of the NFL Week 14 game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Quieting his mind helps him visualize great play on Sundays.

He gave a long answer to Meirov on how he implements the practice after offseason trips to places like Bali and Thailand exposed him to the methods.

"First two years, certain stuff happened in practice or a game. And like, I'll have a mental switch, and then the next play, or the next day, I have the best practice," Turner noted. "And I was like, there's something to this ... One time this was even last year going into camp, I forgot what exactly happened. But you know how sometimes you get (video) clipped on something as a corner, and think it's your fault, and then everyone on social media is saying, it's your fault, right? I try to stay off my phone so much, but I saw that, and I got so mad. I was like, 'bet they playing with me'. So I literally said that in my head. And the next day I woke up, and I had like a five PBU practice.

"I was like, there's something to this with this mental stuff. It did something serious because there has been a direct correlation. So to sum it up, I travel to Bali and Tokyo. Okay, so that is big out there. So then my second year, I went to Thailand, I went out there, and then it's big out there too. So I'm like, All right, so then I started doing the daily J (meditation), which is what's called, and it always ends with a two-minute meditation after the end. So I would sit there, and I started meditating a little bit. And then eventually it got to five minutes, eventually got to 10."

A cool peak behind the curtain with Turner showing how he's willing to turn over every stone to perform well.

It's an even bigger offseason this time around for the star. He's eligible for a contract extension entering the final year of his rookie deal with the Bengals, fresh off his best campaign yet. Turner played a career-high 974 snaps, posting a career-high 13 PBUs and two interceptions while allowing a 77.3 NFL passer rating in his coverage area.

Turner is the Bengals CB1 entering the offseason program, and maybe they can meditate together toward inking an extension before the heat ratchets up literally and figuratively around training camp.

Check out the full chat with Turner below:

🚨"NFL Spotlight" with #Bengals CB DJ Turner II, one of the NFL's most underrated CBs:

FULL VIDEO + TIMESTAMPS👇
0:00 - Cold Open
2:33 - Start of interview
3:01 - The origin of “JuanDrago”
6:00 - Early football journey
8:07 - Choosing Michigan
9:46 - Playing for Jesse Minter &… pic.twitter.com/FZjpRqvInD
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 31, 2026

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