Three storylines to track in the Bengals’ first scrimmage

Training Camp is in full swing, pads are popping, and the Cincinnati Bengals’ first team scrimmage is on the horizon.

Normally Friday would be a nice chance for families to take their kids to the stadium and see some Bengals players face-to-face. Unfortunately, the pandemic has eliminated all four preseason games and kept fans away from training camp.

Friday’s scrimmage is a crucial component to the coaches’ evaluation of the players. They’ll have to cut the roster to 53 guys before the start of the season, but the 16 practice squad spots are even more important than they previously were due to COVID-19.

The scrimmage will be the first game-like setting they'll have experienced since December. With that in mind, here are three key storylines to pay attention to on Friday and beyond.

Offensive Line Rotation

Offensive Line coach Jim Turner has had a reputation for keeping his guys on their toes. He has a tendency to swap guys in and out of the starting unit.

Friday is the first chance for the coaching staff to see how well this line gelled in the initial days of padded practice. The only positions locked in right now are left tackle and center with Jonah Williams anchoring the blindside and Trey Hopkins barking out assignments in the middle.

The real mystery is how open are the other spots? Xavier Su’a-Filo has seemingly taken the pole position at right guard, Bobby Hart has been next to him all week, and Michael Jordan is leading the way on the left side.

"Last year you're just getting reps for the first time and you're trying to rep them against a bunch of different defenses and there are a bunch of moving parts where we were interchanging guys all over the place,” Zac Taylor said earlier this week. “Now you know there's still competition out there, there's no question about it, but these guys have a ton of confidence."

Continuity and consistency from the offensive line is imperative with a rookie quarterback. Keep an eye on who is taking control of the snaps at all three open spots. The Bengals could already have their minds made up about their starting O-line. We’ll learn a lot about this unit on Friday.

Joe Burrow in the Red Zone

"Rookies have to adjust to the speed of NFL Football." Plenty of people have made that statement over the years. It’s a cliche for a reason. Joe Burrow is going to have to learn on the fly.

The Bengals quarterbacks struggled mightily closer to the goal line in 2019. Their red zone scoring ranked 30th in the NFL. They scored touchdowns on just 43.8 percent of their possessions inside the 20-yard line. The Bengals spent a significant portion of their first padded practice working on those situations. It was a 'welcome to the league' experience for Burrow. The rookie threw an interception, fumbled a snap, and never quite got things clicking on all cylinders.

"It's difficult down there because you have the end line, so defenses are going to sit on the routes more," Burrow said after practice. "You can't go deep, so you really have to drill that in practice. It's not just going to happen on game day."

Friday is Burrow's first chance to get the offense into red zone situations. He completed 71 percent of his red zone passes in 2019, finishing with 34 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Red zone execution is one of the hardest things to master as a quarterback. Friday's scrimmage is Burrow's first chance to hone those skills at the NFL level.

Darius Phillips in a starting role

Trae Waynes is on the mend for the next few months, leaving a power vacuum on the outside of the Bengals' secondary. There are various candidates to take ahold of the open spot, but one ballhawk appears to be making the most of the opportunity.

Darius Phillips has been lightning in a bottle for the Bengals. He led the team with four interceptions last year and could have a much bigger role in 2020.

“Darius has been off to a good start here in training camp," Taylor said when asked about Phillips. "He obviously has made the big splash plays in the opportunities he got last year now it's just consistency from down to down. That's what we expect to see from him. He's off to a solid start here. I've been pleased with some of the things we've seen him do."

The key word is consistency. Phillips has the skill set to be a successful NFL corner, but he needs experience to develop. The ball is in his court for the first time since he was drafted. Friday could be a springboard for Phillips’ pro career.

The Western-Michigan alum figures to get the first crack at manning the boundary opposite William Jackson III. The starting job is there for the taking. It’s up to Phillips to take it.

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