Zac Taylor Updates Bengals Injuries, Final Preparation During Middle of Week 1

The Bengals are entering normal game-week practices this afternoon and look like they'll have a full arsenal of starting talent to start the week.

Zac Taylor is going to let the first injury report of the week do most of the talking, but he did give the latest update on a few players returning from injury, like Tee Higgins (heel), Ja'Marr Chase (knee), Dax Hill (soft-tissue injury), and Shemar Stewart (knee).

That whole group should be able to play this week if no setbacks occur on the next three reports. Cincinnati is rocking all orange uniforms this Sunday in its season-opener against another hungry contender in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"Yes, they'll continue to do more and more every day. But I like to pace their on. Shemar will keep working towards that," Taylor said before discussing Hill. "Yeah. So I won't make any predictions on how it's going to end up this week for him. But I think he's feeling a lot better every single day. Monday felt good, and we'll just progress them this week and see where it ends up.

"He's (Hill) feeling really good too. I've loved how he's come back and just attacked the process coming off the injury. Really like his demeanor right now. I've got a lot of confidence in Dax Hill, a lot of respect for Dax, and so I'm excited that we've got him back in the mix here."

Taylor has felt the impact of Dexter Lawrence all training camp, and he's ready to see another team take a full snap diet from him in a few days.

"He just affects about every play he's got, and it gives other people a great opportunity for one-on-ones they got to take advantage of, and they have," Taylor said on Monday about Lawrence. "And so it just really opens up the other 10 guys on defense, and then finding ways to get him isolated as well, and not just making him eat up double teams all day."

Lawrence is one of the Bengals' seven captains, leading a locker room that Joe Burrow and more have noted is as close as any the team has put together this decade.

Now, it's about performing on the field and making this offseason hype mirage a reality.

"I just think we've got a lot of high-level players who believe in what we're doing," Taylor noted. "They've put in the work. Number one, it's one thing to just talk and declare expectations. It's another thing for the work ethic to match that conversation. And I've seen that work ethic match the conversation for our guys. They have a lot of confidence. A lot of guys have been there, done that. Know what it's supposed to look like to be on a championship-caliber team."

Cincinnati has two intense practices today and tomorrow and a lighter one on Friday.

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