All Bengals

Shemar Stewart Reveals Top Goal For 2025 Season, Trey Hendrickson's Impact

The Bengals were back at practice on Wednesday after a day off.
Russell Heltman|
Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart (97) warms up before the first quarter of the NFL Preseason Week 2 game between the Washington Commanders and the Cincinnati Bengals at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025.
Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart (97) warms up before the first quarter of the NFL Preseason Week 2 game between the Washington Commanders and the Cincinnati Bengals at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In this story:

Cincinnati Bengals

CINCINNATI — Shemar Stewart chopped it up with FOX 19 reporter Jeremy Rauch in the Bengals locker room on Friday, with the rookie revealing his big goal for the 2025 season: Win Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Stewart has been working hard and turning heads across multiple points of training camp ever since he joined the team a little later in the process following a lengthy contract negotiation.

"I'm excited to show the production on the field," Stewart told Rauch. "I'm trying to go after that big award for rookies this year. So, I'm trying to do my big one this year. ... It would mean a lot, because I feel like for me to go get it, it would mean I put in an extreme amount of work. And if I do win, that means I busted my tail to go try and get it."

The rookie has been getting consistent tips from Trey Hendrickson, who's holding in for a new contract, but still staying engaged with the defensive growth.

"Having somebody like Trey giving his insight on things is very helpful," Stewart said. "He tells me how to do things better so I can make it to the quarterback a little bit faster, you know, just get a little better on one or two things."

Those tips dial into getting ballcarriers on the ground as quickly as possible. The sack aspect of that was a bit of a struggle for Stewart en route to just 4.5 college sacks in three seasons at Texas A&M.

He's not putting any pressure on a sack number goal with so many other things to worry about as a rookie.

"No, I learned, the more you think about sacks, the more they're not going to happen," Stewart said about having a sack total goal this season. "So if it happens, it happens. So I'm just going to go out there, play my heart out, and if it happens, it happens."

Stewart seems to have a good rookie mindset as he prepares for a third preseason game on Saturday. He improved from game one to game two by posting a 68.4 Pro Football Focus grade against the Commanders (18 snaps). A nearly 14-point jump from his 54.5 grade against Philadelphia (seven snaps).

For more on the Bengals, subscribe to our YouTube Channel and watch the video below as part of our in-depth coverage of the team. Prefer to listen? Check out Cincinnati Bengals Talk on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon Podcasts.

Make sure you bookmark BengalsTalk.com for the latest Bengals news, exclusive interviews, insight, film breakdowns and so much more!

Also, check out the podcast, Locked On Bengals, wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple: bit.ly/BengalsApple

Spotify: bit.ly/BengalsSpotify

YouTube: bit.ly/LOBengalsYouTube

-----

Follow us on X: @BengalsTalkSI

Like Our Facebook Page

Follow on TikTok

Published
Russ Heltman
RUSSELL HELTMAN

Russ Heltman is a contributor for AllBearcats and AllBengals. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH.  Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.

Home/AllBengals Insiders+